Wings of the Eternal Promise
by fallen-sylph
Summary: Love is space and time conquered by the heart.' Within Youko's choice of living in the Human World lies an eternal promise unbeknowst to Kurama. But when he met this unique girl, things started to change and Youko's unknown past started to be revealed.
1. Prologue

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Wings of the Eternal Promise

_(Two Souls beyond Worlds)_

_"LOVE IS SPACE AND TIME CONQUERED BY THE HEART..." - The Time Traveler's Wife_

Written by: fallen-sylph

_"Two souls with one solemn promise to see each other again in the next world but would this still be possible if both of their memories about each other's existence became dusts in the wind and were forgotten...Would faith, hope and love be enough for this eternal promise to be fulfilled...?"_

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_'Save yourself...Leave now!'_

"Fool! Then what will happen to you here..."

_'Don't think of me...think about your life...'_

"Look, I have no intention of running away, saving my life. I'm not frightened of death and its wraths. I won't leave, not without yo---"

_She locked his lips by hers, 'To the next world you shall go, and there I promise, our fates will intertwine again…'_

He nodded with a little smile on his face, "In the other world, I'll wait then..."

_She gently smiled and watched him abscond, far and far away from her._

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Prologue

Thousands of years ago, in the world of evil spirits known as Makai, there was a spirit-fox known for his wisdom and knowledge. Later on, he got bored and learned the art of breaking codes and seals, stealing ancient treasures then became his favorite diversion. He formed and led a group of bandits, roaming around Makai, sneaking and stealing different riches from demons of all kinds. And became the most feared bandit in the Demon World, he was the cold-hearted and ruthless kitsoune thief, Youko Kurama.

However, on one of his thieving expeditions, he was attacked by a member of the Reikai's Spirit Defense Force and was killed. And that became the end of him, the end of the Legendary Bandit.

_...Unfortunately, the stories about his death were incorrect...Youko Kurama wasn't caught nor wasn't killed...He isn't dead...He is alive..._

Seventeen years ago, Youko Kurama the Demon Thief made a careless mistake when he tried to steal a transcendental treasure and was fought with a strong pursuer. Nearly killed, he used all of his left energy to transform back to his spirit form and escaped to Ningekai, to the Human World. There, he nestled into a woman's unborn child; the woman was named Shiori Minamino. Knowing then that if he can withstand humanity for ten years, his spirit energy would gain back and after that, he'll return to Makai and leave Human World without any trace. That's when things started to change...

When Kurama became conscious of his state, he saw all the love and care, his biological mother has showered upon him that he began changing into a very kind, gentle and noble young boy. Years passed, and Kurama realized that he actually love his human mother just like every other little boy. Ten years had passed since his birth, and Kurama found that he was unable to leave Shiori, he owe too much to her.

But when Shiori falls fatally ill, guilt engulfed him when he thought of all the pain he have caused his mother. Blaming himself for his mother's disease, he decided to join the alliance of two demons, Hiei and Gouki, on stealing the Three Spirit World Artifacts. Wanting for himself to obtain the Forlorn Hope Mirror, one of the treasure that will grant any wish exchange for the user's life.

That's when he met Yusuke Urameshi, the Spirit World detective, who was sent after them to retrieve the artifacts. Upon meeting him, the Spirit Detective found out that he had no intention of bringing any chaos to the world with the Forlorn Hope, but only wishes to save his mother from death with its power. Kurama, although knowing the price for his wish, didn't seem to hesitate for one second from activating the Forlorn Hope, that's when Yusuke brags in, offering his own life to be taken instead, so that Kurama might be able to live with his mother peacefully and happily.

Through the selfless act shown by both boys, the Forlorn decided not to take either of the two boy's life and still grants Kurama's wish. With debt of gratitude, he decided to help Yusuke in his missions and then became connected to the Spirit World.

Together with Yusuke Urameshi, the chosen detective of the Spirit World, Kazuma Kuwabara, Yusuke's friend who was a gifted-psychic that has the ability to use the power of the dimensional sword or the energy sword. And lastly, Hiei, the three-eyed demon, who was forced to join in which serves as his penalty for the crime he had done. Thus, the Team Urameshi was formed.

During their team up, they fought in the Dark Tournament, defeating the Team Rokuyokai and the Team Masho in the preliminary. While in their battle with the Team of Shishiwakamaru, Kurama was unexpectedly turned back into Youko's form with Uraurashima's Idun Box or Reverse Magic Box. Supposedly, it would transform him into a baby, but it didn't. He then became essentially the Youko he once has been in mind, body and soul. But when Shishiwakamaru breaks the barrier keeping in the magic from the Box, Kurama transform back into his human form.

Lastly, he fought with his last opponent in the tournament, Karasu. There, he transformed back into his original demon form by taking the potion made from the Fruit of the Past Life, given to him by Suzuki. Though it didn't made his transformation much longer, it helped him revived his demon energy, enabling him to survive his fight with Karasu after releasing a blood sucking plant as his final offense, draining all his energy at the same process.

Then after their team won the Dark Tournament against Taguro, they faced Shinobu Sensui (the Dark Angel), who was the Spirit Detective before Yusuke. After this fight, he realized that he can revert back to Youko's form just by feeling extreme emotions such as hatred or anger.

Saving the whole mankind from the plan of Sensui to let the youkai's rule the Human World, eventually led him back to his past world, Makai. This time, he was forced to re-live his past as he was called to Yomi's side, who is Youko's old partner-in-crime, and was now, one of the three rulers of Makai.

Years ago, Yomi was sent on a raid, but unfortunately it was just a set-up planned by Youko to kill him. Yomi was arrogant and ambitious, back then, and would sacrifice even the life of his companions just to get what he wants, resulting to Youko's decision on hiring an assassin to finish Yomi's life. And on that raid, Yomi lost his sight.

Meeting again after a thousand years, Kurama was obliged to advise and helped Yomi, who threatened to kill his mother and step-father if he disagree, this also became Yomi's way of making Kurama pay for what he did to him in the past.

After the death of the Ruler Raizen, Yusuke's forefather, the Spirit Detective came to Yomi's territory with a proposition; a new tournament in which participants should fight for their own title not by their kingdoms, and whoever wins, will be the ruler of the whole Makai. Yomi accepted this, and the Makai Tournament began.

There, Kurama fought with Shigure "The Demon Surgeon". During this fierce battle, he made his final decision not to look back anymore to the past to find the answers he needs for the future, and so leaves his Youko side where it belongs to. And therefore relied on his own strength throughout the battle and managed to defeat Shigure without resorting to use Youko's form. Even though he was qualified to the next round, he lost in the tournament for he was unable to continue fighting due to severe injuries he had gain after his fight with Shigure.

After the end of the Makai or the Demon World Tournament, Kurama went back to the Human World, while Yusuke decided to stay in Makai as well as Hiei. Kurama then made a choice, to stop living as something he's not, anymore.

And in Ningekai he continues to live like a normal teenager, studying in Meio Private Academy. Living with his human mother, and his step-father, and step-brother in tranquility… completely living as a human being, _as me, Shuichi Minamino._

_But that's not the end of it...._

_There are times when nightmares from my past still come back and haunt me. Do I really know throughout what I really am in my past life... or there are still things in Youko's life that are kept even in my own consciousness...After the Makai Tournament, in the two years span before Yusuke came back from Makai...what did really happen to me?...You want to know?...this is my story... the search for what I really was before being Shuichi Minamino...the reason behind the question...why did Youko chose to live in the Human World..._

_...Join me...in my search for Youko's real past life...The real story behind the spirit of Youko Kurama that is hiding beneath me...because you really still don't know everything about him...especially the things that he kept within only to himself…_

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_'This is my last oath before I vanish, my spirit shall return to search for my love, to hold him back in my arms …in any other world, in any other time… over and over again… I'll search…until the promise had been fulfilled…I'll wait even if it takes… eternity…'_

_She looked up in the azure heavens and whispered her last words, _

_'...I love you, Youko...I love you…'_

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_The luckiest _

_people on earth _

_live two lives…_

_The second one begins _

_the moment _

_they fall in love…._

-Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Bookmark

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"This fan-fiction story doesn't only tackle about Yu Yu Hakusho characters, fictional characters were added in favor of the writer's story and of the story's plot. Facts taken from the original Yu Yu Hakusho anime were from its original creator Yoshihiro Togashi, and are needed to make the outcome plot of the story. Added Information was taken from different Yu Yu Hakusho websites and shrine, and other supernatural theme sites."

-fallen-sylph

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_**Stories – Hitomi Kuroishi**_

_**( English Lyrics from )**_

_You are my stories _

_A tale I have never read before_

_You are my stories_

_A tale I have never read before_

_When I gazed into your eyes_

_I could see an unknown land_

_Stories where the door opened_

_A tale that will never be shut again_

_Stories where the door opened_

_A tale that will never be shut again_

_Destiny cannot be changed_

_I shall head to an unknown land_

_I want to protect you_

_With that simple thought alone_

_Until the moment when_

_This pitch black world overflows with light_

_I want to protect you_

_With that simple thought alone_

_Until the moment when_

_This pitch black world overflows with light_


	2. A Never Seen Apparition

_**Chapter 1- 'A Never Seen Apparition'**_

"…_The Eternal Promise shall now spread its Wings meant for the broken spirit who had never queried her faith to its fulfillment…"_

Opening his eyes, the first thing that filled his vision were the streaks of sunlight passing through the blinders of his window. It was a typical nice, warm morning, just like any other.

He started to sit up and grab the digital alarm clock over the bedside table. It was five-forty in the morning, still early for him to get up so he putted back the alarm clock to its proper place and sloppily then lay back to the bed, his hands over his head, and slowly then he closes his eyes.

It has been months now since he came back from Makai after the Demon World Tournament ended. And although he, neither Hiei nor Yusuke prevailed to win the Tournament, luck as we may call it, a kind-hearted demon triumphed. This demon was a friend of the late Makai Ruler Raizen and also one of the people who helped Yusuke in the said Tournament. And fortunately, this new Makai Ruler did succeed in returning back the unity to the Demon World, and even made the decree of prohibiting demons to hurt human beings which later on resulted to King Enma's (Ruler of Spirit World) decision of breaking down the barriers separating the Three Worlds from one another.

Yes, it all ended up pretty well even in his life. Now, there are no more things for him to be anxious about such as no more saving the whole mankind from destruction, no more lunatic demon who wants to rule over the world, and of course, no more threats to his family's safety. Nothing to be bother about…

"…_Youko…" a voice echoed._

…well maybe except this one.

"_Youko…Youko…Youko…"_

Startled out of his thoughts, he pushed himself up and waited for the voice to resound again but immediately it faded.

"That voice," he murmured to himself, staring at his hand.

That enigmatic voice, it was calling him again. These past few days, sudden time comes wherein that particular voice suddenly echoes in his mind. And he has no idea, _who owns that voice or why is it calling Youko,_ but one thing he's sure as long as it doesn't cause any strange occurrence; he has nothing to worry about it. _And besides, the voice sounds like a gentle zephyr blowing, and irrational it may seems he somehow likes the sound of it, it calms him in an eccentric manner, he couldn't explain… something that tells, it wouldn't bring any harm but thus safety._

Thinking of it, he also started to dream obscure things from Youko's past life after this voice first echoed in his mind_…'Coincidental or not…?' _

'_Maybe these occurrences have something to do with Youko's past…?'_

Kurama threw back the thin sheet and got off his bed. Barefoot, he strode his way to the window of his room and pulled the cords of the blinders, letting the sunrays lighten up his entire room. Leaning then against his window, he gazed out upon the sky_…'Or maybe he was just using this, cause in one way or another, a part of him who wants to be Youko again still exist…A certain part of him that couldn't entirely let go of the identity he had once used to be…_

…And a part of him who still wants to know the answer behind the question… _'Does he truly know everything about Youko… or there are still things to Youko's past that are kept even within his own consciousness?'_

Kurama sighed, he knows he had already promise to withdraw these things but what can he do, it's a part of him, a part he couldn't overlook. Watching the clouds travel the cerulean broad heavens slowly, suddenly made him wonder if those clouds know the destination they're heading to or if they just adhere with the wind's will? _He doesn't know and he bet no one knows too…_

…_Whatever those peculiar occurrences had in store for him… he knows, it will be revealed to him, maybe not now…but in the proper time in favor of Heaven._

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The crimson-haired guy walked out of his room and went downstairs. There he saw a lovely lady with dark locks and eyes that weren't either black or brown but an unusual shade between green and hazel-brown. She came through the kitchen door, drying her hands on a kitchen towel, and upon seeing him, she smiled effervescently. It was his mother Shiori Minamino.

"Good morning, Shuichi, dear," she greeted his son.

"Good morning, Mother," he greeted his mother back.

"Breakfast's ready," she sweetly said. "I'll just call Kokoda to eat."

He nodded as he fondly watched his mother stride her way upstairs to wake up his younger step-brother, Kokoda. Seeing the joyfulness painted on his mother's face could really prove how happy she is with her new found family.

Last July, his mother married a man named Hatanaka who happens to be the president of the company where she works at. After the marriage, Kurama gained a step-brother by the name of Kokoda. All of them lived happily together now as a complete family, and he knows, nothing more than it could make his mother happier.

When he made his way into the kitchen, he saw his step-father Hatanaka by the dining table, reading the morning newspaper. Hatanaka is a very benevolent man and he has no doubt that he is indeed worthy of his mother's love and affection.

"Good morning, Father," he greeted him.

Acknowledging Kurama's presence, he putted down the newspaper and smiled back to his step-son. "Good morning to you too, Shuichi, your mother's done preparing our breakfast. Come and join me here."

He nodded, strutted toward the table and sat down, leaning his chin in his hand with his elbow resting on the table. "It is quite indeed a pleasant morning, isn't it Father?"

"Yes, it is." His step-father casually sipped his coffee. "A splendid morning always starts the day right."

"Definitely," he answered.

"I totally agree with that too, Father." His step-brother said strolling into the kitchen, toward the table and sat beside him. "Good morning Father. Good morning Shuichi."

"Good morning to you too, Kokoda," Kurama grinned at his younger step-brother. Kokoda is a thirteen-year-old kid, in sixth grade. He's a good kid but stubborn too like any other kid at his age. Kokoda has an olive-drab hair and dark eyes, certain features that deeply resembles Hatanaka.

"It seems you had a nice sleep," Kurama said to his step-brother.

"You've said it," Kokoda answered hastily and turned his eyes on his father, probably starting a new topic. "By the way, Father?"

"Yes," his step-father turned his attention to Kokoda away from the newspaper.

"Can I already use my bicycle today? You and Mother will go to Mr. Satoo, right? Then bringing me to school will be just a waste of time. What do you think?" he said, expecting his father's approval as an answer. "Please?"

But even before his father could open his mouth and speak, his mother unexpectedly skids into the discussion. "No, not by now, Kokoda," his mother curtly said as she entered the kitchen and walked toward the dining table. "It's too dangerous."

"Huh? But why," Kokoda whined with pure disappointment. "Mother, I'll be alright. If you're worry about the bike's condition, it's already okay; it was Shuichi who even fixed it for me."

"No, I'm not concerned with your bike," his mother shook her head, contemptuously. "Have you just heard what happened to Mrs. Nonaka's youngest son, Ichiroo?!"

His mother's tone was quite apprehensive that it caught the curiosity of his step-father, "Why, what happened to Mrs. Nonaka's son?"

"Two days ago, his youngest son was almost hit by a car while they were on their way home." His mother continued her story, "Good thing, a young man appeared and saved her son out of danger."

"Wow! So there are still people who live on earth that have the guts to risk their own life for the sake of others," Kokoda said with a tone blend between amazement and mockery. This attitude of him was probably the outcome of his mother's decision of not allowing him to use his bike. He then cynically added, "What if both of them got hit by the car then that would be more awful? What would Mrs. Nonaka do then?"

Hatanaka winced at his son, "Well Kokoda, believe it or not, people like that still exist. And Mrs. Nonaka was lucky to meet this young man." He then turned to his wife and with a pleased smile, he said, "Mrs. Nonaka was probably the happiest person on earth when she saw her son safe. She should say thanks to that young man, she owes a lot to him."

"Yes, she indeed was, Ichiroo is her life. Unfortunately though, Mrs. Nonaka hadn't had the chance to say thanks nor ask the name of the young man, he suddenly disappeared after the incident," Shiori answered. And with a fond smile playing on her lips, she then added, "but the adorable thing is, Ichiroo kept on saying that the guy who rescued him has a pair of feathered wings. That the guy who saved him was an angel."

"Well, that guy is indeed an angel." Hatanaka said, putting away the newspaper.

"I also believe he is, saving someone whom he doesn't know takes a lot of courage," Shiori nodded and sat down. "Let's eat."

As everyone had started eating, Shiori averted her eyes to her red-head son, and notice that he was just sitting still and wasn't eating his food. Silent and withdrawn, all he kept on doing was twiddling the fork's handle in his hand, rearranging his food with the fork's prongs. His face was slightly stiff, indicating that he was again in his own trance probably thinking of things she wasn't aware of and wouldn't be aware of. This son of her has this habit of not letting anyone know what his thinking of or what is bothering him, he keep a lot of things only to himself. But even though Shiori knows how responsible he is even at a young age, and that he's already mature and now can managed a lot of things in his own, no one can blame her for being a mother who worries about her own son's sake.

"Shuichi, dear?" his mother's voice broke Kurama's pondering thoughts. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes---yes, I am," he stuttered. Leaning his chin away from his hand and putting down his elbow from the table, he then said, "Sorry, I regarded that my manner wasn't very appropriate in front of the table."

"Come on, Shuichi, don't tell me, your sentiments was got by Mother's story," Kokoda teased as he stuffed a slice of sausage into his mouth. After swallowing the lump in his throat, he then added, "or its either you believe in little Ichiroo's angel story."

Kurama didn't answer but threw back a smile to his step-brother. Of course, his sentiments wasn't absurdly grasped by his mother's story and why should he be, he knows the story itself, he saw everything that had happened within that incident. Mrs. Nonaka, her youngest son by the name of Ichiroo and the mysterious young guy who saved the little boy from danger, he saw it all happened as he was on his way to school, two days ago. He knows every single detail of it even the cause why little Ichiroo kept on telling that the young guy who had saved him was an angel, that the young guy has a pair of white feathered wings in his back---because it was true. _He saw it before his very own eyes._

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_(Two Days Ago)_

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It was a cloudy morning, the gleaming sun was up in the skies but it rays setting upon were easily overwhelmed by the enormous bulk of puffy clouds hovering above. Even the breeze of the wind was in favor with it, the cold damp of the air could be felt by his skin. A peculiar weather it is for the coming season.

Kurama was on his way to school, Meio Private Academy to be certain. It is a private school with high academic standard, and chooses only the students who can pass their convoluted entrance examination. But well of course, he passed it easily and even got the highest score.

Kurama at his age was already extremely educated and powerful for a human, very mature and spoke with sophistication and a wide vocabulary, utmost gratitude to the kitsoune inside him, which also explains why he behave differently from other normal teenagers of his own physical age.

He couldn't deny having Youko within him is actually a great help but truthfully this part of him as well is the reason that often cause him his problems and brags him into troubles. But after all, this is him, a human being with the spirit of a fox demon, nothing can change it.

Kurama sighed and putted his hands inside his pockets, and was about to cross the street when suddenly the sound of a convulsively engine's car caught his entire regard. Sensing something he didn't like, he turned to the left lane of the road and saw this black-car racing furiously down the road. It was so fast that in a span of time, the black car passed at him. And as it passed, he's keen eyes caught on something, something he knows he shouldn't disregard. It was a dark figure emerging from the car's hood, a gremlin-like creature enveloped by a great amount of black energy, a youkai.

'Impossible.' It's a demon. He thought they weren't allowed to travel to the Human World but then what was this little creature doing here? His notion about the creature immediately disappeared when he heard the shrill-voice of a woman shouting.

"Ichiroo, come back here!" He saw a woman at the side of the crossing lane only a few meters away from him. She was calling out to a little boy who was crossing the street, going after his kitten.

'The child!' alarmed in Kurama's mind and abruptly he started to run after the black car. If that car wouldn't stop, the little child will be in big trouble, would be in the verge of death.

The car's horn hooted having the same effect of a fire siren, it continued racing furiously toward the innocent child, who already has the little kitten on his arms.

"Ichiroo!!!!!!!!" the child's mother shrieked upon seeing the car.

The demon, it's controlling the car's behavior, Kurama thought and raced to his fullest speed, trying to outrun the horrendous vehicle on the loose but it was too rapid enough to be surpassed, too fast enough for him to make it in time to save the child when just then---

"Watch out kid!!!" A young guy wearing a red cap, rushed swiftly like the air to the middle of the street, held the naïve child and dodge.

Then out of the midst of the whole situation, Kurama saw a pair of brilliantly white feathered wings leisurely grew out from the young guy's back which made him stopped at his feet, an instance that caused his time to stand still.

'What's this?' Kurama was puzzled in his thought, absurdly mesmerized by what his eyes were seeing. It felt to him as if it was the first time he saw magic unfolding before his very own eyes.

And behind those wings, Kurama could plainly see the young guy's face, a soft feature it has for a boy. He has this pair of dark-brown eyes unlike any other he had seen before, oculars that were very unreadable, very deep.

Then he saw how the white feathered-wings spread out on its full-length, shrouding the young guy and the little kid as if protecting them from the danger that is yet to come.

An annoying sound yowled and drew Kurama back to reality. The sound was coming from the car's wheel in friction with the firm solid ground as the black car races its way on hitting the two people away in a span of seconds.

The boy's mother shriek out of her lungs as she saw the car coming near, and then it was followed by an outrage hooted of the horn and a loud howled from the car.

"SCREECH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Then-----

It halted. The car stopped in time, its headlight a few strands away from the young guy and the child, who were miraculously remained on their place, unscathed from tip to toe. _It was a profound miracle._

The child broke into sobs and cried after it caught to him what just had happened. He quickly ran to his mother leaving the young guy in the middle of the street, his wings nowhere to be seen. 'It faded in a snap or was he just hallucinating things?' Kurama queried to himself.

"Mommy! Mommy!" the child continued to cried as his mother locked him into her embrace, bringing him the assurance of safety. "I'm so scared, Mommy!"

The black car's engine stopped, its door opened with a robust force and out came the driver with a face as pale as a snow. He quickly ran toward the woman and the boy, apologizing and bowing his head, checking the condition of the child, and telling the woman, the car was out of control. Too bad, none of them know that the real culprit behind the occurrence was an unseen dark creature, a devious youkai.

Kurama strutted evenly near the incident's scene, seeing fully that the youkai had already disappeared just like what he had assumed. He couldn't sense the aura the dark creature owns lurking around anymore. All was safe now.

"Mommy, the guy…" Kurama heard the little child said.

"Where is he, Mommy?" The little boy asked his mother again.

Upon hearing the little child, Kurama broodingly turned his sight around the place to see the young guy but he failed, he was already gone.

Kurama was still rummaging his look around when suddenly he felt a little creature brushing down his legs. Kurama turned his eyes down and saw the boy's snow-white kitten at his feet. The little kitten stopped and sat down, with its blue eyes gawking at him as if it knows what he was thinking of.

He knelt down slowly and stared back at it, "How did you get here so fast, little creature?" He fondled the kitten and tried on the second time to capture a single sight of the young guy but it was futile so he opted to turn his attention back to the kitten. The little child might have let go of it and forgot about it when he ran to his mother after the incident, Kurama presumed.

"Meow…meow…meow…" the kitten brushed its furs against his hand.

"You better go back to your owner, you've already caused enough trouble for a day," Kurama turned to the kitten and carried it to the boy.

Upon seeing Kurama walk closer, the little boy held tightly onto his mother's hand and hid behind her back.

"Pardon me, Madame," Kurama interrupted the women and the driver, who were still resolving the problem. "I guess this little fellow here owns this little thing in my arms."

"Yuki!" the boy said and went near Kurama, the little fellow was an adorable one. He appears to be a child of three years of age or four. He has this curly-russet hair and a pair of gullible brown eyes that gaze at him with such pure innocence. The little child turned to the kitten, "He's my kitten, Yuki."

Kurama deigned and gave the kitten to the little boy. "You should take care of him very well. He's an adorable little creature."

"Thank you!" the boy smiled at him and took the little creature in his arms, the fear in his voice was already gone.

"You're welcome," he smiled back at the boy and patted the boy's head.

"Come on, now, Ichiroo!" the little boy's mother suddenly grabbed his son's dainty hands and turned a stern look to the driver. "I assure you, Mister, be thankful that my son is safe without a tiny scratch because of that young guy, whom I hadn't had the chance to say my gratitude because of our argument. Just please stop driving too reckless!"

The driver lowered his head down and once more apologized for the trouble he had brought. The women sighed and pulled his child away. While Kurama straightened his own self up yet kept his eyes on the little boy, who was holding his mother's hand firmly as they walked away from them.

Kurama sneered at the driver, "Please, don't agonize, Sir. I believe that you didn't mean to do such matter and inflict harm to the little child. It's just an accident, nobody desired it to happen." Kurama could make out a smile on the driver's face, just a tiny one, but it was definitely there. He bid then his goodbye to the driver, turned his back and was about to stalk when he overheard the little child's boisterous voice across the street.

"Mother, the guy who saved me has wings!!!" Hearing this, Kurama brows drew together in a very inquisitive manner. "Just like an angel!" The boy's voice was full of amazement and happiness that the brows that drew together in Kurama's face soon faded and were altered with a little smile on his face as he stalks away.

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Angel? Or feathered wings coming out from a human's back? Who really is that young guy? Kurama thoughtfully pondered as he poked the slice of sausage in his plate by the fork's prongs.

He wasn't the only one who saw the young guy's wings, the little child saw it too so it must be no other than an apparition. Odd but the old aphorism is true, children can see what the naked eyes of the adults can't. They can sense and see anomalous phenomena around the external world. And Kurama believe in it also, no doubt about that matter.

Someone who might be also gifted with psychic abilities could have seen the occurrence too like Kuwabara or Genkai but that doesn't matter anymore. The issue here is about the existence of such an apparition, he had never seen anything like it before…'_But maybe, just maybe if he'll have his second chance on meeting the young guy again, he might be interested about it. That is, if destiny will consent…'_

After his family had finished eating, he immediately got himself ready for school and left their house before his mother starts to pry him regarding his behavior during their breakfast.

When he arrived at their school, several of his classmates were already in their classroom, chatting around with each other. Steadily he went to his place, to the vacant chair at the last row beside the room windows. And as always, he silently sat down, leaned his chin at his hand, and averted his glance outside the window to the sky. There he continued watching the clouds drifting their way. And even caught a sight of a white feather gliding with the wind's draft, he was so absorbed watching it that he didn't even heed any attention to his teacher's arrival.

"Good morning, class!" he heard the teacher's voice but still didn't venture his eyes away from the little thing.

As the wind blew harder, the feather swept far away until it could no longer be seen by his eyes. Kurama sighed and reluctantly turned his regard to his teacher who was speaking.

"Alright class, before I start our discussion, let me introduce you to someone," he announced, causing a fuss around the classroom.

"Come here inside," the teacher gestured to someone at the door.

And then this girl strutted in and stood in front of them. She has a rare light-tanned complexion and short blackish-brown hair, and _this pair of dark-brown oculars, atypical one, which looks very familiar to him._

Kurama abruptly leaned away his chin from his hand and putted his elbow down at his desk, merely gawking at the girl. Her soft-features and those eyes, how stupid he is not to notice it, those eyes of her and the mystic pair of dark-brown oculars that he had seen two days ago, _they were extremely identical_.

If somehow he can visualize a red cap on her head, she actually looked like him…they looked exactly the same…He couldn't be wrong about it, because of those eyes, those deep dark-brown eyes can only belong to one person… _The young guy, who had saved Mrs. Nonaka's son and this girl standing in front of him, they are just the same person…_ _He was a she!_

"Hajimemashite? Hasegawa Akira desu. Juurokusai desu. Doozo yoroshiku." She smiled at them and bowed her head. 'How do you do? I'm Akira Hasegawa, 16 years old. Nice to meet you all.'

_He couldn't believe his eyes._

* * *


	3. The Girl

_**Chapter 2- 'The Girl'**_

"…_For she always believed that the Wings of the Eternal Promise are similar to a free bird… it will continue to fly and search for the place where it truly belongs to…"_

This is thoroughly unbelievable. The person who had save Mrs. Nonaka's son and showed an extraordinary apparition to him, a couple of days ago, was now in front of him, standing there, visibly---And in fact, it never really seeped into Kurama's mind even for a second to the possibility that that person was a she.

"Hajimemashite? Hasegawa Akira desu. Juurokusai. Doozo yoroshiku." She introduced herself and bowed her head in a truly gallant manner which naturally got the attention of the whole class.

She has a very different feature compare to the other girls. She has a short unusual blackish-brown tinge hair, reaching down to her neck; no wonder it would be hard to guess her real gender if she wear a cap, just like when he first saw her. The complexion of her skin is of a creamy, light-tanned one. And her dark brown eyes, they remained the same as before, still unreadable, still deep.

"Class," Mr. Saginomori drew the attention of the class. "Ms. Hasegawa here is a foreign transfer student. And although both of her parents are Japanese, she was born and had lived most of her life in another country where her parents migrated. Thus she is still having a hard time coping up with the things here in Japan so I hope you'll all help her, is that alright?"

"Haii!!!" the class answered in high-spirits.

"Good." Mr. Saginomori turned to the girl, "Is there anything more you want to say, Ms. Hasegawa?"

The girl smiled pleasantly to them and said, "I know my stay here in Japan will be a wonderful experience. I just wish I can make friends with everybody."

"Sure, why not!" was the reply of a bubbly girl in the front row. "We all love having a new student, right, classmates?"

"Haii!!!" the class answered in unison and then one-by-one started commenting and venting good words to the girl as if they already know everything about her. They acted so friendly and warm to this new student, things Kurama wasn't expecting.

"Of course, we want to be your friend especially me…he-he" the all-out naughty boy of the class named Satoo Ryuzaki said with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Shut up, Ryuzaki, your scaring her!" teased by the girl with a pair of braided hair and eyeglasses named Tanaka Kazumi, who happens to be the class president. And unfortunately, the cute girl-liker as well, as others would call her because of her despicable habit of liking cute girls and being awfully enthusiastic over them.

"You seemed to be a very nice person. I think anybody would like to be your friend…and besides you're so KAWAII!!!" She exaggeratedly declared, stood up her chair and was about to give a horrible, big hug to the new student if Mr. Saginomori hadn't stopped her in time.

"Excuse me," Mr. Saginomori cleared his throat and gave the class a cold stare. "I know you're all glad having her as your new classmate. But for pity's sake, with all the stuffs your doing, I hope Ms. Hasegawa wouldn't get the wrong impression about her new school."

"Gomen nasai…" the class apologized and as for the class president, she eventually went back to her chair and quietly sat down.

Mr. Saginomori sighed, "Sorry about that Ms. Hasegawa."

"No, it's okay. I'm very glad that they are my classmates." She sweetly remarked.

"Good. So Ms. Hasegawa, you can sit over there." Mr. Saginomori pointed the vacant chair at the last row beside the room windows, coincidentally two sits apart from Kurama's place.

"Arigatou, Saginomori sensei," she thanked Mr. Saginomori and bowed her head. Then strutted toward her place and sat down.

Hasegawa Akira was her name. A sixteen-year old, foreign-transfer student, who is a true-blooded Japanese but, had lived most of her life in another country according to what Mr. Saginomori had said. Perceptibly, she appears to be just like any other normal high-school student although Kurama was barely aware of a peculiar aura that had clouded around since she entered the classroom. And whatever this girl may appear to be, she is still the same person who Kurama saw a couple of days ago with feathered-wings sprouting out from her back. The same person who he first believed to be an apparition but now was there, being visibly perceived by others. Things that couldn't be overlook, which also serves as an open basis for him not to take his eyes off her and her movements…_For nobody knows who really this girl is and what lies within her true identity, the things she can do and the things she has in mind to do…the only fact Kurama was sure of is that this girl is different from the others…_

* * *

Akira leaned her cheek to her hand, her elbows resting on the desk. Mr. Saginomori their Rekishi (History) teacher had just dismissed their class after discussing an elaborated history of Shintoism and Taoism, which eventually made her bored.

She averted her eyes around the classroom and saw her classmates. The boys were wearing a pale-rose long-sleeve blazers and pants while the girls in her classroom wore a creamy-pink long-sleeve chemise paired by a cherry-red skirt. They were all busy talking to each other, probably chatting things they have already talked about the other day ago. She blew the bangs on her forehead and turned her gaze out of the open window.

Meio Private Academy was the name of this institution, her new school to be specific. And according to the people around the city, it is a prominent private institution with high-academic facilities and standards as well. Talk about good reputation, she should be happy upon studying there but she doesn't care about it even a bit.

She hated going to school. Not because she doesn't like studying but because she doesn't want to be taught by some old-age professors telling you this and that, and at the end of the day, the things you will just remember from there expanded lectures are the ones that caught your interest, and the others, are already dusts in the wind.

What she really wants to happen is for her to learn by her own, to learn from her mistakes, to learn the things that fascinate her interest without the need of going to some kind of institution. Unfortunately, on the contrary, her mother wouldn't let that happen, she is a certified A+ academic freak maybe because of her profession as a teacher.

Her mother is also the one to be blamed why she's in Meio Private Academy. Her own mother blackmailed her, threatening her that if she wouldn't continue her academic studies during her stay in Japan, she'll be automatically sent back home. And that, she didn't want to happen, not unless she's already finish with her concerns here in Japan including her special training in a temple outside the city, under the hands of her respectable sensei.

Her life here in Japan is much more comfortable and enjoyable compared back home. She can do things freely here and nobody cares about the things she would like to do. This is heaven for her.

"Konnichiwa, Hasegawa-san!" a loud-voice caught her attention.

Akira turned her look and saw a girl with a pair of braided hair and eyeglasses, the same girl who want to give her an unreasonable big hug earlier. "Oh, your---"

"Tanaka Kazumi. You can call me Kazu if you like," she said to her and smiled.

"Kazumi, I mean Kazu. You can call me Akira, I feel a bit odd when somebody's calling me by my surname and besides were friends, right?" Akira thoughtfully offered her hand for a friendly handshake.

Obviously, Kazumi took hold of her hand tightly in a very suggestive manner. "Oh, you are really so nice. By the way, I'm the class president here so if you need any help or whatsoever just call me. It will be my pleasure to help someone as cute as you."

"Eh?" was her dumb-founded reply.

"Ah…you're so kawaii!!!" Kazumi smiled at her and was going to say something else when a group of girls suddenly called her.

"Kazumi, Fujima sensei is calling you at the faculty, hurry up," one of the girls said.

"Oh man… sure, I'll go," Kazumi replied, reluctantly. "Sorry Akira-san, I have to run for an errand in a meantime."

"It's okay," Akira said and watched Kazumi walked out of the room, waving goodbye at her.

'What a weird girl,' Akira thought. But she's glad she has a new friend in the person of Tanaka Kazumi. And although she couldn't understand why Kazumi calls her "kawaii", she has this comfortable feeling towards her. She bet Kazumi is kind, she can somehow predict it by her look. It was the friendliness of her smile and the candor of her soft brown eyes. And she knows she isn't wrong about Kazumi, because she has a good instinct when it comes to knowing people by their looks, it's one of her special talent as what she prefers to call it.

"Look at her, what's so special about her?" Akira heard a hushed-sly remark from a corner. "She looks very ordinary, why do our class president likes her, she's nothing."

Truthfully, she wasn't blessed by a keen sight but she does have a good audible range making it easy for her to recognize where those audacious words where coming from. Akira turned her look around and there a couple of steps away from her, she saw a tall-girl with long-blonde locks, gawking at her in a manner she didn't like.

"I can't understand why everyone's giving her a special treatment, is it because she's a foreign transfer student. The hell I care!" the tall girl piercingly said.

"Shh!!! She might hear you Kumiko," The girl beside the blonde-girl winced. "Look, she's already staring at us."

"What? Scared by her?" the blonde girl strutted toward Akira and stopped in front of her, giving her an icy stare. "Why are you looking at us like that? Huh?"

Akira sighed and snubbed the girl, turning her sight outside the window. She indeed does hate absurd arguments and just like what this blond-witch had said earlier, 'The hell she cares!'

"What? Why aren't you answering me?" The blonde-witch sharpened the tone of her voice and sarcastically said, "Oh so I see, you think of yourself too special that you don't want to answer me back. Sorry to inform you, but you're not special, your just an ordinary crap."

"I wish I was but unfortunately I'm not," Akira evenly snapped not averting his eyes to the tall girl. "Too bad for you…"

"Well, aren't you cocky for a new student, eh? I think it's time for you to learn not to mess up with me."

The blonde-witch sternly raised her hand and was about to spank her when suddenly Akira turned to her with a pair of sharp, fierce eyes. And just at that moment, a forceful wind followed, entering the window beside Akira. It squalled and intensely blew that it stopped the blonde-witch from hitting her, not only that the wind was so strong that it blew the blonde-witch's skirt too.

"Ahh!!!" the blonde-witch shouted and held down her skirt.

The wind shortly calmed, leaving the blonde-witch shameful at the middle of the scene. The boys hooted at her and the other girls laughed.

"Nice one!!!" one of the boy's whooped. "What pleasant scenery we've got there, Kumiko!"

The others laughed at her and the blonde-witch blushed in embarrassment.

"Minamino-san, your crush, was even here to witness it," the boy teased her again and burst out laughing.

And there, Akira saw how the blonde-witch averted her eyes shyly to a guy at her back, sitting two sits apart from her. He has a crimson-colored hair and a pair of emerald eyes, ogling at them. And from what Akira noticed, these guy maybe the one who the blond-witch admires.

"Shut up!!! Shut up!!!" the blonde-witch shouted in humiliation and rushed out of the room.

'How embarrassing and traumatic for her…' Akira thought. Truthfully, she feels sorry for the blonde-witch. She would die if that embarrassment happens to her. Imagine a bunch of your classmates saw everything in you not just that, the guy you admire was even there to see it. That's awful, if only that blonde-witch had just shut her mouth in the first place, this wouldn't happen to her.

Akira drew a deep audible breath, turned to the windows and closed it. _"I told her, I wish I was just an ordinary crap but too bad for her I'm not…" She whispered to herself._

* * *

The short blackish-brown haired girl calmly stood up, shut the windows beside her and sat down as if nothing had happened.

This Akira Hasegawa is beginning to drive him out of his mind. First, he saw her having a pair of feathered wings in her back, two days ago. And then, she surprisingly entered their classroom and even became his classmate. And now, she's performing eccentric things in front of everybody.

He exactly knew that she was the one responsible the moment the strong wind blew inside their classroom and caused Kumiko Morisawa's sudden humiliation. He couldn't be wrong about that matter, because logically if that certain strong wind is just an ordinary zephyr, it will enter naturally in all the open windows within the room but it didn't. He was beside one of those windows, it isn't close but he didn't even felt a tiny brush of breeze against his skin when that intense wind blew. The only window where the wind entered is the one beside Akira. And that could explain everything.

He was right about her all along. She's different and she can do things normal humans can't. Her ability to do that is perhaps the same with Jin's ability, the Wind Master of the Spirit World Shinobis. She maybe howsoever can control the wind. And it isn't impossible especially if she's gifted with a strong spiritual awareness.

There are many kinds of energy; it may be existential energy, astral energy, spiritual energy and a lot more, as long as a thing exists, it possesses energy. Humans have two innate energies, the physical and the spirit or spiritual energy. The physical energy is the energy often used in all kinds of physical work such as walking, talking, fighting and so forth, while the spiritual energy is the mysterious kind of energy that can be only utilize through opening your inner mind to another level of awareness. This energy is usually unused by ordinary humans. Psychics or humans having ESP or Extra Sensory Perception are the ones who have the ability to use this spiritual energy.

The spirit energy is much more powerful compared to the physical energy because with it an ordinary human can do extraordinary things. The spirit energy can be used to heal a person's sickness or cure wounds at a faster rate. It can also be used to create a powerful offensive attack such as Genkai's spirit wave or Sensui's energy ball. It can also be used to control or manipulate existing things; such as Hiei's way of controlling the dark fire, the same way as he uses it to control his plants. And on the latter, such capabilities can only be done by individual's who has a powerful spiritual energy the same level with Hiei, Jin and Touya's. And that bothers him.

This girl, she can be as powerful as an upper B class demon in some point with her ability. And though, Kurama couldn't sense any dark aura in her, he knows he should be more watchful and observant regarding this girl and her ability.

* * *

*_gomen nasai_- it means 'sorry' or 'I'm really sorry' in Nihonggo (Japanese).

*_kawaii-_ it means 'cute' or 'adorable' in Nihonggo (Japanese).

*_demon class-_ a systemize order used by the Spirit World to determine a demon's power, capabilities and description. Class D is the lowest ranking while Class S is deduced as the highest ranking followed by Class A and Class B.

*_sensei-_ it means teacher or master in Nihonggo (Japanese).


	4. An Unexpected Encounter

_**Chapter 3- 'An Unexpected Encounter'**_

"…_And once it swears to do something, it will do anything for its fulfillment…and even past the wraths of death…"_

The infinite sky-blue atmosphere was adored by her eyes, masses of clouds peacefully drifting with the gentle zephyr. The trees stood high like pillars, its leafy arms lifted to the sky in praise. Its leaves were painted with mosaic pieces of emerald and jade crystals shining, dappled by the sunlight as it sways to the unknown rhythm of the breeze. Flowers sprouting in different colors covered the entire green meadow, and dandelion seeds were playing in the air.

It was a majestic place. A place she believed can only exist in those fairytales. It was a marvelous scene, an unknown magical place she was in. She bet no one have discovered it before, though she has an unusual feeling that she already saw this place. In a certain part of her, she knows this place, she had been here before…she once stayed in this place…not only by herself…_but with someone…although she couldn't remember who she's with…_

A gust of wind stirred the leaves and there on one of the great trees near where she stood at, she caught a glimpse of something, a dark-blue shadow standing beside it. The daylight was indeed a great help for her to make an outline of the form, _it was of a lad_. His back was to her, but as the breeze moved the leaves and the sunbeams shifted across his form, she saw a bit of his features; the flowing lines of his full white cloth was enchanting and his admirable long-length silver hair seems to be drifting to the breath of the wind. It was an astonishing apparition…or maybe not.

She walked slowly toward the form, reaching out for the thing. She wanted to get her hands on it, to feel the warmth and solidity of human flesh—when—

"**KRRRRINGGGGGG!!!" **a loud noise boomed her out of herself.

Akira bolted awake.

Rummaging a look around, she saw the usual things; the dull olive four-corner walls, the old-aged cabinet beside the window which appears to be something that was drawn out from a haunted house, the small table near her where her school books and bag was placed, and the Prussian blue Japanese comforter where she lays. She was in her room.

"Just a stupid dream," she moaned and held her forehead.

Her dream seemed to be so real, the place, the trees, the field and the lad, all of it. Yes, and that lad, she was so close to him, only if it wasn't for that stupid buzzing alarm clock she might have already saw the lad's face.

Akira searched for the atrocious thing with her brows furrowed, and there saw it lying beside her white fluffy pillow, still buzzing horrendously. She grabbed the hideous object with a certain amount of robust force and without any further doubt, threw it straight to the solid wall.

The poor thing hit the far wall in no time and crushed down the wooden floor with a thud, halting the horrendous sound it was making in the same process. Satisfied by what she had done, Akira rubbed her hands and grunted, "Serves you right for disturbing my dream and for irritating my eardrums as well."

She threw the bed sheet and got off the warm comforter, yawned and stretched up her arms as high as she could. Then barefoot she strode toward the windows, pulled away its thin ivory curtain and eased it open, allowing the sunbeams to conquer freely her gloomy room with light.

The sun was high and bright, pompous as always like a noble king around his territory. Its rays dappled the leaves of the tree beside the apartment house, creating a blissful magic in her eyes. She can overhear the birds chirping their jolly songs while the wind's breeze sang with them. It was a brilliant start for a new day, the way she likes it.

"Ohayou Akira! Isn't it a nice morning?"

Akira looked down from her window and saw old Mrs. Satoo, waving at her. The old lady must have just finished sweeping the alley for her dirt-stained clothes could tell it. Mrs. Satoo anyway, is the land-lady of the apartment house where she lived. She's a very sympathetic lady and a friendly one too, that in no time Akira became really close to her.

"Oh, Mrs. Satoo, hello there!" she greeted her.

"What a nice morning it is, don't you agree?"

"Oh yeah, you've said it. The sun happily shines like you do." Akira smirked.

"You silly girl," she saw Mrs. Satoo giggled, her face tinted by a blush. "You should be getting ready for school now, dear, rather than bantering flowery speeches to an old-lady."

Akira smiled. The apartment house where she lived is an old family-house consists of four floors and sixteen rooms. The house was originally owned by Mrs. Satoo's father and was later on left to Mrs. Satoo's care. Only a few people lived in it, beside Mrs. Satoo's family and Akira, there were two families and four persons who stay there, and you bet they are a bunch of nice people. And even though the house is already old, and the room she got was just small, Akira loved the whole place even its creaking floor boards. The house practically gives her the ambiance of a home. And truthfully, if it's possible for her to live there for the rest of her life, she'll gladly would.

"Okay, Mrs. Satoo! I'll get ready now. Of course, I don't want to be late!" she answered and waved back at Mrs. Satoo, cheerfully.

* * *

"Hey! Good morning there, Shuichi!" Yuu Kaito tapped the back of his red-head friend upon seeing him walking down the alley toward school.

"Kaito," the red-head turned to him.

"Still the top student eh? Tried my best to defeat you this time but naturally like always I've failed," Kaito smiled at him. "A thing not surprising anymore, as everybody knows, no one can defeat the Great Shuichi Minamino. Well, consider that you really are a dominant entity."

"Should I take that as a compliment or as an insult," Kurama wittily muttered, smiling back at Kaito.

"Take that as a compliment. Of course, I wouldn't want to be an appetizer to your plants." Kaito giggled, adjusting his eyeglasses. "Or be stuck on an argument with those girlfriends of yours, over there."

"Not again," Kurama sighed and warily averted his eyes to where Kaito was pointing. And just like what he expected, there were a group of girls near the school gate, waving at him.

"Oh Great Shuichi, what a charismatic person you are!" His friend sneered at him, jabbing him in the arm. "You have a harem of females. Maybe it will be better if I start calling you now as Lover-Boy Shuichi rather than the Great Shuichi. Pick your choice then?"

"Neither," was Kurama's abrupt reply.

"Come on, look at them, patiently waiting for the arrival of their Prince Charming a.k.a. Shuichi Minamino," Kaito declared, grinning broadly at Kurama's gruff face. "My, what a lucky guy you are!"

"Unlucky," Kurama corrected with a grumble.

"Ready, Shuichi for your Grand Entrance?" Kaito fondly scoffed.

"Don't remind me," Kurama said under his breath and held his forehead. He exactly knew what kind of nightmare lies ahead of him.

"SHUICHI SEMPAI!!!!!" someone screamed out of her lungs.

And as soon as Kurama had set his foot on the school boundary, the girls swiftly swarmed around him and Kaito like a group of bees. And it's something not new to him anymore for this scene always happen 'every' 'single' 'day' of school whether he likes it or not.

"Sempai, we made cookies in Home-Economics today. Would you like to try them?" a girl said, handing over a jar full of chocolate cookies to him.

"Oh…uh, thank you." Kurama replied with a casual smile.

"Congratulations, you top again the exams, sempai," another one of the girls said.

"Err…thank—"

"Um…Sempai? I'm making a special bento for you tomorrow. I hope you'll like it," the other said.

"Sempai, how would you like to hang out with us today?"

"Yes, since you top the exam again for the 54th time, why enjoy then?"

"Let's go to the Karaoke BoxTM!!!"

"Wait, but I—but I—" Kurama stuttered. This was great, he moaned in his thoughts. He couldn't even get a word in edgewise with all this girls gushing around.

"HALT IT, GIRLS!" He heard Kaito yelled which caught the girls' attention and made them stop. Good heavens, Kaito hadn't forgotten him, Kurama glorified. "Shuichi and I have some tasks to do with the Student Council, so if you don't mind."

"BUH-BUH-BUT?" the girls whined at Kaito, with their tear-filled eyes and lips quivering.

"Sorry. Responsibility first before pleasure, am I right, Shuichi?" Kaito winked at him.

"Yes, indeed." Kurama apprehensively nodded, letting himself be hauled by Kaito out of the crowd.

"Awww~~~!!!" the girls at their back bleated as they turn away from them.

"That was neatly done," Kaito remarked, once they had retreated to a safe distance. "Honestly, I admit, to me you're like a King, Shuichi, but to those girls, they treat you like a god."

Kurama frowned, "So what do you think, should I be thankful with it?"

Kaito shook his head vigorously.

Good. Kurama thought. At least Kaito understand his situation. Candidly throughout his entire life, he never had the slightest interest toward any romantic subjects or anything concern with it either. On the contrary to how his peers react to it, all flustered and emotional about the same issue. And even if he doesn't know the logic behind such philosophy of him, he's sure Youko is in favor with it. Besides he couldn't even imagine himself acting the same way as his peers do toward such issue. He sighed.

"Hey, Shuichi, look at that!" Kaito's voice perturbed his thoughts.

In front of the entrance door of Meio Private Academy, there stood another group of students but good thing this time they were cramming another person. It was a girl with short-hair, smiling bubbly, associating with the crowd.

"Isn't that our new classmate?" Kaito queried to him, inquiringly.

"Yes. Hasegawa Akira." He answered and halted to a stop, watching the crowd.

"I heard from a lot of students that she's very likeable, humorous, energetic and cute… In short, she became an instant Darling of the Crowd," Kaito stated. "Look at her, Shuichi, the crowd simply loves her."

Kurama nodded. In fact, Akira had become a dear girl to everybody in just a short span of a week. And it's all because of her special talent, Palmistry and Fortune Telling using Tarot Cards. It became an immediate hit to the girls and the boys thought she was the coolest girl ever with her awesome abilities. Every student recognizes her and always tells good things about her. They didn't think she was different, they just thought she was remarkable.

Yes, indeed. She continued showing her abilities, her unusual talents to everyone without any mark of hesitation shown in her face. And obviously, she was proud of her unique abilities and perhaps isn't scared of how her colleagues may react to it. And that what makes her more mysterious to Kurama, the way she acts, the way her logic performs, she's entirely unexplainable to conclude it.

"The teachers love her too. She performs well in her academics and who would have thought she would have the third highest score in the Long Exam, next to mine," Kaito exclaimed. "Everyone is literally got honey dripping from their mouths whenever she's the topic."

"How about you Shuichi, what do you think of her?" Kaito turned to his friend.

"An angel," was Kurama's sincere answer. Well, that was what he really thought of her at first, an apparition of an angel, he amusingly recalled.

"Oh no, not you," Kaito grumbled. "Of all the people, Shuichi---"

"I'm telling the truth about her, Kaito. She's an angel," Kurama added with a fond smile and turned on his heel, leaving Kaito behind him, puzzled by his strange answer.

* * *

Akira huffed, trying to comprehend the meaning of the three Tarot Cards lying on her desk. Strangely, but whenever she tries to drew the cards again, the set of obscure cards always appear, aligned exactly the same.

The first card was the "Wheel of Fortune" or the "Destiny Card", it sets back against a backdrop of heavens and planets; upon its face are shown the signs of the zodiac. No human element is shown in the card to influence the movement of the wheel, which means that it is left for an individual to consider that fate is work. The movement of the wheel depends upon the mechanics drive hit and where it lands is a question of chance. It also represents the cycle of life showing the transient nature of change.

The second card was the "Fool" or the "Joker"; it is something of a conundrum. When the fool appears in a reading, it always suggests that unexpected opportunities will suddenly appear that can bring welcoming changes. It serves also a reminder to listen to the voice of an individual's inner child that recalls the excitement of new adventures.

While the third and probably the last card was the "High Priestess", it moves between two pillars, symbolizing duality. The crescent moon behind her and the glittering stars that adorn her head shows her ability to access higher knowledge in esoteric matters. Her face is masked, representing mystery and secrets, which indicate that there is more depth to some matter to which an individual have seen so far. The influence of this card is feminine in nature, relating to the psyche, and so represents spirituality and esoteric matters, wisdom and the desire for knowledge and learning. It may also show an interest in the deeper, more complex aspects in life.

Three Major Arcana Tarot Cards in one set of reading, all vague and mysterious, a kind of reading which is very rare to happen. However amidst the reading, the third card which is the High Priestess is the one that actually bothers her, because the card may also carry a message of potential or yet unfulfilled matters to an individual. And as what as it prefer to implies, it indicates that there is a more profundity to some matter compare to what an individual have seen so far.

_A change, an unexpected opportunity and a secret to be unveiled_, somehow it brings Akira the creeps. She doesn't really know what her cards are trying to tell her, if it's a premonition, a warning or a destiny that lies ahead of her, she couldn't exactly tell it…Akira closed her eyes and sighed for a second before opening them wide with a jolt.

"Akira-san!" a voice said beside her.

"Eh? What is it?" She turned and saw a group of girls, standing beside her.

"Akira-san, can we have lunch together," a girl sweetly said.

"Yes, we can talk about a lot of things---and of course about your special talent."

"Yup, it's really amazing. I can't believe it at first. You simply looked at my palm and then you started blurting a lot of things about me, even my secrets."

"Yeah, can't forget the look on Naomi's face when you started talking about her little-bitsy secrets back then."

The remaining girls laughed.

"Oh, forget that," snapped the other girl. "So, Akira-san, will you have lunch with us?"

Akira nodded to them and the girls were all blissful. She must admit many of her classmates are getting interested on Tarot Card Reading and Palmistry ever since she showed them its capabilities. What an influence she is, she thought wittily and smirked.

* * *

The crimson-haired lad halted at his feet, scouring a look around his surroundings. It was a very quiet place, only the high trees covering the entire area and the afternoon sunbeams striking through its leaves could be seen. The inside part of the park was indeed the perfect setting for what is about to happen.

"You must be stealthier than that to surprise me," Kurama sternly muttered. "Show yourselves. Playtime is over. I know you've been following me since I departed the school."

Out of nowhere, three despicable-looking demons jumped in front of Kurama and malevolently scowled at him. The youkais were all of a low-class level, showing there vicious claws and sharp-razor teeth as a sign of threatening. Apparently, he could easily tear them apart if he wished to, but their motive he needs to know it first.

"I hope you have good reasons for approaching a stranger," he calmly said.

"Taking your life seems to be a good reason," the larger beast with an abhorrent horn in his forehead grumbled as he licked one of his repulsive claws. "Eh? Youko Kurama, the demon traitor?"

The other demons laughed hysterically.

"Oh, really," Kurama sarcastically sneered at them. "I suppose then Enki knows nothing about this atrocious visit, am I right?"

The smaller youkai unpleasantly chuckled, "We don't take orders from a big runt like him!"

"Enki would probably be dismayed if he heard you venting that," Kurama wittily smirked then got very serious. "Now, tell me, who's behind this?"

"That wouldn't matter anymore once you die!" The larger demon snarled and ran toward him, aimed for a direct attack which was suavely blocked by Kurama using a mere hand.

"Die!!!" The demon whirled around Kurama and tried to attack him again with its vicious claws but as swiftly as he always have been, Kurama easily avoided the assault and jumped back to his feet, keeping a certain distance from the demons.

"If a mannered conversation wouldn't render you to answer perhaps torment will," Kurama remarked and ran his delicate fingers through his crimson hair, bringing out a magnificent rose from it. He stood firmly at his feet and then started to manipulate his youki into the rose for it to grow to its whip form and serve as his weapon. "Rose Whip—"

"I won't let you use that trick!!!" the larger demon cut him off with a snarled and abruptly ran toward him for another deliberate attack when suddenly without any warning, an individual out of nowhere, flung herself to the demon and wrestled it straight to the solid ground. It was all of a sudden that it caught the demon by surprise; even Kurama was startled by it.

It made Kurama stopped for he wasn't sure if his foolish eyes were playing tricks on him again, for in front of him there was Akira, grappling the horrendous beast on the ground. He couldn't believe it, what in the world had brought her forth to that place and of all the people why it has to be her? Kurama's mind was all frustrated either by the surprise attack this girl had made or by her sudden appearance. He doesn't know.

"Akira? What in the world are you doing here?" He uttered, fixing an unblinking gaze toward the girl who was still wrestling the demon on the ground. But unfortunately, the girl didn't pay any attention to him either she completely hadn't recognized his presence or she was intently ignoring him.

"Let go of me, you scalawag!!!" the larger demon snarled, shoving Akira off him.

The girl roughly stumbled on the ground, half-fell, half sat. While the demon indolently stood up, flexing his claws and sneering at Akira like a lunatic one, "Now, you shall pay for that insolence."

"Akira! Run!" Kurama yelled and was about to run toward Akira if the other two annoying beast hadn't intervene his way.

"Don't you worry about that girl, Kuromi would take care of her," the other hissed with an infuriating smirk.

"At the meantime, play with us first," the smaller demon growled.

At that moment Kurama knew he should stop playing games for if he doesn't stop this habit, Akira's life would be in big threat. Although he knows that the girl has an extraordinary ability, he couldn't simply neglect the possibility that she may not yet be that ready to use her power in a situation like this. However strong she might be, stronger than Kuwabara or Hiei, if she couldn't control her powers and use it deliberately, it's useless. She might end up killing her own self or perhaps creating a much bigger chaos.

Kurama averted his eyes to the claret rose in his hand. For certain, he couldn't use it while he's in the same place with Akira or else he shall face great consequences. Therefore, he has no choice but to use another attack, an attack in which Akira wouldn't notice his distinctive ability. He threw the rose aside.

"You don't want to attack first, do you?" the smaller demon grimaced. "Then let us take the honor of doing it."

Both of the two demons indubitably dashed and assaulted an attack to Kurama. Obviously, the two of them wanted a close combat. That's when Kurama had the chance to do what he had planned in his mind; he ran his fingers through his hair and flawlessly impelled a pair of Shimaneki seeds into the bodies of the two unaware demons. Now, all he has to do is to fight them long enough for the seeds to take root, while hoping Akira would be unharmed in the meantime.

Kurama glanced at Akira while avoiding the claws of the two exasperating demons. Akira was indeed auspicious in avoiding every attack the larger demon was making. Until an unexpected coincidence happened, while shunning away from the demon, a tiny rock tipped Akira over, opening a chance for the demon to mug his claws on her.

Akira attentively blocked herself by her arm which was caught by the demon and slashed. She plopped to the firm ground with a loud thud, the sleeve of her uniform slit from arm to wrist and blood started to taint its fabric.

"Curse it," she gasped, raising herself to a sitting position. "I have no choice."

"Now die, you imp!" the larger demon raised his claws, moving forward to Akira.

'There's no time,' Kurama thought and manipulated his youki to the seed inside the bodies of the two demons and paralyzed them in a second. The two demons moaned and blasphemed, but Kurama didn't take heed of them and their grumbles, he swiftly rushed toward Akira and gathered her limp body into his arms, away from the abhorrent monster's harm.

"Mina—Minamino-san…" the girl said in a muffled voice, seizing her injured arm. The wound in her arm was still bleeding and from what Kurama could perceive, the claws of the demon are really undeniably jagged.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" she queried, staring at his face.

'I'm the one, who supposed to be asking you that certain question,' Kurama grumbled in his thoughts but opted to keep his mouth shut and chose to fiercely gaze to the beast in front of him.

"Perhaps it's your turn," he frigidly said to the large beast at his front.

"Ganbu, Kibu," the monster reluctantly turned his head around his loyal cohorts and saw them standing at the spot, not moving. "You scoundrels, what are you doing there? Kill him!"

"Boss, we can't move!" the other howled. "Help us!"

"What did you do to them?!" the larger demon bawled at Kurama, preparing for another attack.

"You don't have to know. Besides, it wouldn't matter once you die," Kurama ruthlessly replied, imitating what the certain demon had said earlier. He took a step forward to the demon, releasing a great amount of his spiritual energy for the demon to take heed, "Should I start then?"

The demon took a half-step back; its eyes were wide, like the eyes of an animal trapped in a car's headlight. His bulky body started to tremble; he exactly knew then that he had no chance of winning if he fights this half-youkai, half-human entity. It would be better for him to retreat and face the penalty his master would give rather than to die.

"Don't kill us. Please, I'm begging you…" the demon knelt down, tremendously killing his pride. "I—I'll be your loyal servant if you wished to…"

"A noble offer I cannot accept, but you can do something, go away and take those horrendous beings with you. Swear never to return." Kurama coldheartedly declared. "Leave now or I shall change my mind."

Immediately, the beast hurriedly fled away from him, carrying his two scurvy companions like a bundle of laundries. And in an instance, they vanished out of his sight, leaving neither their horrid smell nor their ghastly auras in the place as what Kurama had expected to happen.

"Just lower class beasts…the easiest of all…" he sighed. Demons of the lower class level do never change, always petrified to face the cruelty of death. Well at least, it all came to an end without further atrocities or perhaps it was not over yet—

"Minamino-san…" Kurama turned to the girl in his arms. Her face was all puzzled and her dark-brown eyes were wide with pure innocence, baffled like a frail little kitten that was lost. "What's happening…?"

_Of course it isn't_, Kurama cursed under his breath. He stared at Akira's childlike face and precisely knew that he has a lot of explaining to do. The girl witnessed everything that had occurred, from the demons up to his cold remarks. Now, how on earth would he explain that, was the question he needs to ponder about.

* * *

*_Tarot Cards-_ is a set of cards used to foretell the future or to access higher knowledge in esoteric matters.

*_Palmistry-_ is a way of foretelling a person's life by looking and examining the lines present in the palms of a person's hand.

*_Youki-_ demon energy.

*_Shimaneki Seeds-_ also referred to as Deathbringer Weed or the Seed of the Death Plant. This is a small seed manipulated by youki which once planted on an opponent's body, can take root after it had enough time then kill its victim.


	5. Faith and its Humor

_**Chapter 4- 'Faith and its Humor'**_

"…'_Cause no heaven or hell could bar the way of a promise that is made of pure love…"_

Well, here she is, standing in front of the Minamino Residence without a single thought running inside her mind. She even doesn't know why on earth she accepted the red-head's decent offer of treating her injured arm in his house when she already know in the first place that he's the same person who the monsters were plotting to kill. What if those ogre-looking beings try to follow them? What if they were _now_ inside the house, _deviously waiting for them to enter and be ambush?_ If that happens, she isn't sure if she'll still be lucky enough to survive. For pity sake, when will she ever learn to stop making stupefied decision out of bewilderment?!!

Akira heaved a sigh and anxiously averted her eyes to the crimson-haired guy at her side. Shuichi Minamino, the upperclassman and school prodigy, the most popular guy in school known for his superior intelligence and good-looks. With all those regal manners, who would have ever thought he has an unusual affair with some freaking monsters?

"Is there something wrong?" Akira heard the red-head queried. "Are you worrying that they might follow us?"

"No! Absolutely no!" she vigorously shook her head. That wasn't true, of course. From what she could tell, she was essentially panicking and yelling, _'Absolutely yes! Isn't that obvious? So please don't be a moron, and don't open that door, those beasts might be in there and attack us! I don't want to die yet, I'm still young!!!' _How degrading is that? And what a pathetic liar she is?! She moaned in her thoughts.

"Good," the red-head remarked and pleasantly grinned at her.

By all the winged beings of the celestial realm, Akira thought, how the hell could he still throw an affable smile like that when he's completely aware that there are three monsters lurking somewhere out there, craving to cut his head off? Does this guy have already lost his mind? In a certain point, she wants to riotously ask him that—or maybe it will be better if she try to ram his head on some far wall first, then wait for him to recover back to his proper consciousness… No, that was stupid…andhopeless either. _In brief assumption that means the ideas entering in her mind was all hopeless and wouldn't be a help in any way. _

Akira sighed and took all the courage she has as she frightfully watched how the red-head plainly gripped the brass handle. She hoped it would be locked. She prayed it would be locked.

But it wasn't.

The knob was easily turned by the red-head and Akira's heart instantly throbbed faster than its normal rate, getting ready for something horrible to occur like a demon coming out of the house as the red-head open the door ajar. Fortunately, nothing happened. _Good thing, her luck was still working, she glorified in her thoughts._

The red-head widely opened the door of the house and stepped back, courteously giving way for her, "After you."

_A modern chevalier we have, eh?_ So the girls from their class were really telling the truth about Shuichi being a gallant gentleman, she humorously thought as she stepped inside the house, completely putting her present anxieties behind.

Shuichi quietly closed the door behind them and led the way inside the house to the lounge room, and chivalrously gestured her to take a seat on the dim-chartreuse divan present in the specific room.

"Where are your parents?" Definitely, that was a dumb thing to ask, she sounded more like a snoopy old grandmamma but what can she do, there was nothing seeping into her mind and it was the only thing she could formally query to him _without sounding horribly boorish._

"They're at work and probably wouldn't be home until seven, I guess," the red-head answered with a gentle smile on his face.

"Oh…" was the mere thing she could reply.

Silence followed then, conquering the room for a couple of seconds until the red-head spoke up and broke the stillness occurring inside the room.

"So make yourself comfortable. I'll just get the medicine kit, okay?" He said.

Akira nodded like an obedient little girl and watched the red-head vanished inside the room. Remaining alone then, she rummaged a look around the room and saw a family picture over a wooden stall beside a reading chair. And as irritatingly curious as she had always been since the day she was born, Akira went closer and deliberately scrutinize the picture on the red frame. Four persons looked out at her from the photograph, two boys; the older one has red-hair while the younger one has brown, a beautiful woman which somehow resembles Shuichi's delicate features and a man who looks more like the younger boy. It was a picture of Shuichi's family.

They all look really happy especially the woman, Shuichi's mother to be specific. She appears to be in her mid-forties but was still admiringly lovely. She has brown locks and a pair of eyes that weren't either black or brown but a rare shade between green and hazel-brown. And from what Akira could see from the picture, she was admittedly fond of her older son, she got her head leaning on his arm while her hand was entwined with her nice-looking husband, and as for his husband; his arm was placed around the little boy with olive-drab hair and eyes like him. It was a perfect picture of a perfect family, very different compare to the family she has…

"Hasegawa-san?" a voice broke off her sappy ruminations.

Akira turned her head around and saw the red-head lad strutted closer to her. "Does your wound hurt?" he sympathetically asked with a warm smile on his face.

She lightly shook her head. No wonder Shuichi is very kind and gentle, it's because he lives with a blissful family around such a warm atmosphere, Akira thought.

"You seem to have a very nice family," she murmured and averted her eyes back to the picture. "Content and happy just having one another, am I right?"

"Certainly right," Kurama answered, fondly staring at Akira's face. She actually looks like an innocent kid perhaps harmless too beyond the extent of her unknown power. "You're truly are an excellent soothsayer just like what I have heard."

"Silly. It requires no extra sensory perception for me to know your family is happy," Akira chuckled and turned to him. "You see, I came from a broken family so it's easy for me to distinguish the difference between a happy family from not."

"Oh—forgive me, I didn't mean to—"

"You don't have to," Akira broke Kurama's words off, with a faint smile on her face.

She's lying, Kurama was aware of it. In a strange way, Kurama could sense her loneliness though there was an amiable smile playing on her lips and the sadness wasn't visible in her eyes, he believed those were just her ways to cover her forlorn feeling.

"Here," Kurama handed her over a white garment, changing the topic in the same process. "If you want to change your stained chemise, here's my shirt. I know it may look absurd on you but I assume you would gladly choose to wear it rather than to go home looking bloodily smothered like that, wouldn't you?"

Akira nodded with a cheery smirk as she boldly accepted the folded shirt in his hands and expressed her gratitude.

"The bathroom is near the stairs, you can change your clothes there."

"Thanks again,"

Kurama nodded and watched her stride her way to the bathroom. What a fascinating thing she is? Full of surprises, like a box of chocolate, you'll never know what you'll get from her, he wittily thought of her.

Destiny made them met again in an unexpected way, but this time around, she grappled a youkai twice of her size, who was literally intending to kill him. He couldn't forget the look on the youkai's face as she wrestled him on the cold ground, his lips quivered in amused recollection.

How ironically it is that shortly after his experience in Makai, another one will occur only this time he met a person naturally riveting. '_Faith actually may have it sense of humor.'_

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After she was completely finished, Akira stared back intently at her reflected image in the mirror, and finally burst into a fit of outrageous giggles.

The red-head was absolutely right about her looking absurd in his white long-sleeve shirt. She's small and she admits it, but Shuichi's shirt even made her look tremendously small. The sleeves of the shirt were too long for her arms that if she wouldn't roll them above her elbows, her hands wouldn't be visible at all. The shirt was undeniably quite hulky for her size; it appears to be more like a dress on her—In short, she looks like a complete droll in it, but who cares, at least she wouldn't have to go home wearing a gruesome bloody chemise.

A picture formed in her mind, of herself walking all the way home wearing that dreadful gory uniform, while a bit unsteady on her feet, her hair disheveled much worse than Einstein's and a face as pale as snow—an exact clone of Frankenstein's lifetime partner lurking around city, that's what she would look like.

She heaved a deep sigh and struggled to get the idiotic but comical thought out of her mind before Shuichi overhear her laughing and think she's a complete lunatic. Anyway, it was a good thing that she accepted the red-head lad's offer after all, if she had not, she would certainly end up the way she imagined it to be. Akira ogled at her school uniform top lying near the sink, it looked terribly vile, its sleeve was slit from half and it was all bloodily-stained.

Rolling up the sleeve of the white shirt above her right shoulder, Akira turned back to the mirror and inspected the crimson slash-mark in her arm. It was literally deep and though it had stopped bleeding, she could still feel an immense amount of pain.

That confounded ugly ogre, how the devil could he inflict so much harm on her if only one of his nauseous claws had struck her arm? A single cut he had done but it was enough to make one suffer in hell with the unbearable pain it cause. She couldn't imagine how much more would it hurt if all those claws had sank into her arm. For sure, she would lose one of her precious arms, and how creepy would that be?

Shuichi, yes, if Shuichi hadn't saved him in the nick of time she would probably be in Heaven right now, waiting for the Father All Mighty to judge her. Perhaps she should say thanks to him for saving her life—but wait, that doesn't mean she'll forget all the eerie things she had seen. And by all possible means, Shuichi needs to explain those peculiar things to her especially about those horrendous beings that attacked them.

If she's right, they are called youkais or demons, her sensei had once told her about them. They are convulsive, bloodcurdling and of course, bizarre creatures who brings trouble to the Human World or Ningekai. She also had eavesdropped once from her sensei's conversation with a mysterious-looking man sucking an absurd pacifier about these demons having their own world, Makai, and about some kind of barrier that the Spirit World wanted to cut-off. (Truthfully, if she doesn't know her sensei very well and hadn't had a background about paranormal things, she would have probably thought that her sensei had already lost what was left on her mind—but now, she leaves that theory alone to the brown-haired guy with a baby's pacifier on his mouth). Anyway, back to the topic, if those are demons, what do Shuichi have to do with them? He's a normal teenager living a normal life, right? _Or maybe not…_

Shuichi could see those demons, and only people who are gifted with sixth sense or extra sensory perception would have the ability to see those obnoxious entities. (Honestly, to see those beings…it shouldn't be consider as a gift, it should be called as a curse) So it may only mean that Shuichi the same as her has the curse of this special gift.

…Now the only questions that were left are, what do those demons want from him? And (although she doesn't know if this is just her imagination or not) but do Shuichi have some kind of a special power too, if not, then how did he defeated the two other demons and why did the enormous demon became afraid of his pretend-like-a-tough-one act? Would it be possible then that Shuichi wasn't a normal teenager after all?

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When Kurama came back to the living room from his room, he saw Akira already dressing her wound with the bandages he provided inside the medicine kit. Obviously, she was having a hard time binding her injured arm using a single hand with the help of her teeth to tug the bandage tight but whenever she tries to keep it evenly fixed, the looser it gets until the bandage came off by itself, and just like a grumpy little kid, Akira growled. He became fond of watching her that he opted lounging against the doorway and continued to gape at her every eager attempt to swathe her wound with bandages all by herself.

"Curse it!" Akira blasphemed, stomping a foot on the floor as the bandage loosened in her arm again. "What a stupid bandage you are!"

Kurama couldn't help himself not to chuckle upon the scene. Akira on the other side heard him and turned to him with a hateful look; her cheeks were flushed and puffed up.

"And what's that laugh for?" she inquired, indignantly.

"I suppose you hadn't had any experiences about giving first aid, if I'm right?" He teasingly uttered with a lighthearted smirk plastered on his face.

"So you've been there all the time, watching me perform ludicrously as I bind my wounded arm, huh?" she huffily said with a sardonic smile. "Well, did you enjoy it?"

"Fascinating," was Kurama's blithe reply. "Now, need a hand there?"

"Well, honestly, yes," she nodded and sighed.

Kurama nodded and sauntered his pace toward the couch and sat down beside Akira. The girl fixed the shirt's sleeve above her shoulder and brought her arm a bit higher for Kurama to dress her wounds much easier. Kurama took the loosened bandage off her arm and acquire a new set of bandage out of the medicine kit; he gently held Akira's injured arm and gradually started to wrap the bandage around her arm, as he did so, he intently gawked at Akira's wound and saw a very astounding thing he wasn't expecting. The wound had stopped bleeding, it didn't look terrible like it was earlier and what's more implausible is, the wound was recuperating by itself. And as he drew a much closer look to it, he could clearly see how the energy was lining within the wound's fringe, healing the injury at a faster rate. _He just couldn't believe it._

"Hey, what are you staring at?" Akira's voice perturbed his thoughts.

Kurama turned his look up and saw Akira's pair of rounded dark-brown oculars gawking curiously at him—her face inches from him. For a moment both of them remained still, gazing directly at each other's eyes until Akira's face grew redder and as apprehensive as a little girl would look like, her face quickly averted away from Kurama.

'BAKARON! BAKARON! BAKARON!' she continued mentally kicking herself. Sure enough, she felt her cheeks blushed, she couldn't be wrong about it. Akira rolled her eyes at her side and saw the red-head lad plainly tilted back a bit and continued to dress her wound _as if nothing damned had happened._

'Stupid confounded heart, why for in Heaven's name are you beating that annoyingly too fast?' she shouted in her thoughts. Well, she must admit, he was in fact good-looking, the girls from their school often tell it to her but it was the first time she had actually noticed it. 'Remain calm, for damnedest's sake! It's just a pretty face!'

When Kurama was thoroughly finished binding her wound, he leaned back to the couch and sighed, staring steadily at her bandaged arm. She's really not an ordinary human; no ordinary human can recuperate that kind of slash that fast. He's completely sure how deep that cut had been, he saw it. As Kurama thoughts ponder around the questions he has in his head, his eyes caught Akira's bandaged wrist.

"Did you also have an injury in your wrist?" Kurama queried to Akira.

Akira vigorously shook her head and brought her wrist up, "This, it's nothing, just a simple fashion style I want to try. I think it looks cool."

"A bandage around a wrist, more like an activist symbol to me," Kurama blurted.

Akira moaned and gave him a fierce look, "What do you mean by that? That's your second smash at a tease to me, mister. You know what? I wouldn't have any doubts doing to you what I've did to that ogre-like creature—well, speaking of which, I want to ask you about that confounded thing, why did they attacked you?"

"_You know,_ confounded is not a word a lady should use, you should try to avoid using those kinds of words," Kurama remarked with a sheepish smirk across his face upon seeing Akira's face grew redder for what he have commented regarding her mannerism. Without Akira saying anything, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees then continued, "Like you, I can see those beings. Those ogre-like creatures you've referred to, they have been following me since I went out of the school boundaries. Sensing them, I decided to stride by the park to confront them, that's when you came and brawl their superior. And obviously, you know what happened next. Hence, I never really had the chance to know what they wanted from me."

'What is he trying to imply with that, huh? That I was the cause why he never had the chance to talk to those ugly, repulsive creatures,' Akira thought and felt a certain throb in her guts. She was ready to throw a profane utterance then, but even before she could say a single curse, the lad intervene her with a question she wasn't expecting to hear.

"Thus, I believe you owe an explanation too regarding that matter," Akira heard the red-head lad added that made her turn a nervous look on him. And just then the merest smirk crossed his face, the kind of smirk that says; I've just amused myself by thinking a vulgar thing about you.

"Eh…?" Akira sweat dropped and felt as if her blood froze. **Why didn't she have thought that Shuichi would later on pry her concerning that matter?** She should have remembered it—_now what would she say?_ She couldn't exactly tell him the truth about the specific task she has or else he might think she have lost her mind, no one would believe in that crap of a story regarding the Makai, the Spirit World, the youkais who she need to stop from creating any chaos to the Human World, _no not Shuichi Minamino_, _she's damned sure he wouldn't believe in those things. For that specific reason, she must remember to avoid mentioning that._

"You see, it goes like this, I saw them lurking around—I felt something wrong, it's a mere gut feeling somehow I know I shouldn't ignore—" Akira faltered, unsure of her own explanation, she even have to gulped an enormous lump stuck in her throat in able to continue. "…I followed their pace then the next thing I saw was this monster on his way to attack someone, I didn't even know it was you… but still—"

"But still you unhesitatingly hurled yourself to the ogre-entity you referred to, in order to stop him, right?" Kurama finished her sentence and saw Akira nodding. Good thing, the girl hadn't heard his conversation with those demons about the Demon World and all. He could be relieved now. "That was very brave of you."

"And very stupid too," Akira chuckled. "If not for you, I would be dead now, so thanks.

'…_and since I owe you my life, maybe I'll just forget all the peculiar things that I saw earlier and disregard my plan about snooping on your private life and the affairs you have with those monsters,' _Akira continued on her thoughts. _'…consider it as a token of my gratitude Mr. Minamino.'_

The two remained quiet then, finding no words to say or to break the stillness conquering again inside the room when Kurama sighed and caught Akira's attention, her eyes turned and rolled at her side, watching Kurama out of the corner of her eye. He was staring at the picture she had scrutinized earlier and the serious look he has even made his face utterly charming as if every detail of it was perfectly carved. He was handsome, no doubt about it. _And as she continued to absorbedly ogle at his facial features, the more she was captivated by it;_ she could even feel her cheeks warming up…

"Hasegawa-san," Kurama disturbed her wandering thoughts. "The man there in the picture isn't actually my father and the younger boy isn't my brother as well. Hatanaka is my step-father and that is his son, Kokoda. It was just last July when he and my mother got happily married and I gain Kokoda as my step-brother."

"Where's your real father then?" Akira curiously asked, completely forgetting the promise she had just made a minute ago.

"My biological father passed away several years ago," Kurama answered.

"Oh, sorry to hear that," Akira fell a little silent but in no due time went back to her normal self again. "Excuse me if I'll intervene with your present sentiments, but why the heck are you _telling these things to me_? Do I suppose to know them or what?"

"I just know you would ask that," Kurama smirked. "Well, let me put it this way, maybe because I just needed someone to know. It feels good when you let your feelings out in the open sometimes."

"That's confounded weird," Akira grunted. "You are confounded weird."

Kurama's smirk turned into a chuckle, "You know, I'm not really into blasphemy but when they come out from your mouth, they entertain me impressively."

"Whatever," Akira snorted crossly and poked her tongue at Kurama.

After some more prying, explanations from Kurama and a couple of blasphemous speeches from Akira, she left the house. Kurama offered to accompany her on her way home but she refused to, spouting that she isn't a baby no more to be coo over because of a little boo-boo and he hadn't have to be confounded worry about her condition. And as Kurama watched her leave, Kurama couldn't help not to smile…she easily believed in his stories and alibis without further suspicions just like an innocent child. Assuredly, he has nothing to worry furthermore about certain matters then.

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……………………

"Forgive me, my lord—give me another chance--" a demon with a large abhorrent horn stuttered. "We almost got him. If only not for this girl who had intervened in our way, we have killed the folly. I swear to you, the next time, I'll cut his head off and bring it to you, my lord."

"_Please, Kuromi, I never sought to hear those inanities of yours,__**"**_ his lord retorted, scorning at him. _**"**__You're a mere nuisance little creature, a thing I have no use of… A worthless object that shall be perished…__**"**_

"No, please, my lord, have mercy!" Shuddering, the demon went down on his knees and began to beg. But his lord didn't took heed of it, he took a step closer to him and with a ruthless grin playing on his lips, his lord raise his hand in a threatening gesture.

"_Fool. Mercy is a word suited ascetically for the Creator so beg to Him not to me…__**"**_

His lord's voice was so cold, so ruthless, and so emotionless. It brought Kuromi sheer frighten, he knows his lord wouldn't spare his life. He's too coldblooded, heartless than a demon. Feeling his whole body shook vigorously, Kuromi shut his eyes, praying someone would save his life. He didn't want to die. Not now.

"…_In the next world, you shall see Him then…__**"**_ he heard his lord grimly uttered when suddenly out of the blue, another voice spoke, interrupting his lord's desire act of killing him, saving him in the same process.

"_Spare his life, my dear, we have use of him_." A woman wearing a sensual white-Grecian robe stepped out of the shadows and into the streaks of light coming from an upper hollow gap of the lonely, isolated cave. She was strikingly pretty, her stygian curls brushed over her shoulders and her atypical ivory-colored eyes ogled adoringly at his lord. _"My dear, would you please try not to be too rude sometimes or else we'll end up thoroughly companionless… It's not the poor demon's fault, so don't kill him. You know how strong that lad is, but still you insisted to assassinate him by sending them. If you really wished to take that lad's life then do it by yourself because only you have the power to do it… And if I may remind you, were not here to slay some demon who hid within a mortal body, were here because you desired to sought your beloved fugitive, nothing more…"_

His lord feigned on a blithe look. Dourly then he went back to his granite throne and perched on it with his elbow leaning on the stonework's throne arm, his chin resting on his hand; his gazed straight through the woman as if he was bored to death.

"_Don't mock me. You know perfectly well why I hate the menace_,**"** his lord remarked.

"_Yes, I know that my dear but still you're being too exaggerated about that matter. Nothing can change the past…besides your beloved fugitive was the one who chose it,"_ the woman muttered, fairly sardonic. _"But look on the brighter side, you have someone like me, who would always love and will never forsake you for another man…like what she did…"_

"_Quite passionate but ironic,__**"**_ his lord said scornfully. _**"**__Such litany infuriates me straight to the bone…Sora."_

"_I'm just joking, my dear, no need to sound so rough on me. It hurts my poor little heart when you do that,"_ Sora giggled, went closer to his lord and leaned beside his throne, attempting to caress his lord's face with her slender hand but was coldly rebuffed. Failed by her seductive venture, she half-heartedly opted to turn her attention back to Kuromi who was still crouched on the ground, _"Oh, and you demon, I almost forgot to ask you about a certain thing. I heard what you have mentioned earlier regarding a girl who had intervened during your fight with Youko. Who is she then? A mere mortal I guess?"_

"Yes, a girl, mistress, but I'm not sure if she's a human," Kuromi answered, puzzled by the curiosity of his own words. "The aura she has, it is not completely of a mortal—"

An odd sound coming from his lord disrupted him, and then there he saw how an odd, enigmatic smirk quivered on his lord's lips which also caught his mistress's attention.

"…_a girl with an inhuman-like aura…_**"** he heard his lord's uttered, mysteriously. _**"**__…interesting…__**"**_

……………………

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The next day at school, Akira didn't show up like what Kurama was expecting. Presumably, she was still resting and healing the wound she got from their yesterday's encounter with the youkais. 'Unbelievable' that was the exact word suited to describe yesterday's occurrence. Everything that had occurred was thoroughly unexpected much like a surprising mayhem especially Akira's sudden appearance. He thought amusingly.

Akira was a naïve little creature. He didn't had a hard time making her believe that he has nothing to do with those monsters and that he even doesn't know what those creatures are, acting precisely like an innocent dupe. So much for a foxy fraud could tell, but marvelously the girl didn't doubt him for a second. Oh well, he guess he had to wait for the weekend to end before amusing himself with Akira's childlikeness and surprises again.

The following night, Saturday, Kurama received an interesting call from an old friend. It was late ten when the phone rang, since he didn't want his mother nor his step-father who had just arrived from work to be bothered, he voluntarily putted aside the book he was reading in his room and went downstairs to pick up the phone and see who was calling at that time of the night.

"Good evening. This is the Minamino Residence. May I know who's this?" was his foremost remark as soon as he lifted the receiver.

"Kurama," the dry voice of a woman in the other line spoke. Upon hearing the voice speaking on the other line, well, calling him by his demon name, he exactly knew who owned that grouchy voice. He can't be wrong with it.

"Master Genkai, is that you?" he casually queried, baffled by her sudden call. "How are you?"

"I'm in good terms. You aren't expecting me to die earlier, right, Kurama? Or are you?" Genkai quickly chided. The old woman did never change, snappish as usual, an attitude she has that Kurama could precisely compare to her apprentice Yusuke.

"Of course not, why would I? You're the Mighty Genkai," he jested but instantly went on to ask his desire question. "And why did I receive an unexpected call from you? Is there something I need to know? I hope it's not another predicament we need to work out though."

"Don't worry it is not a problem. I just want to ask if you could do me a favor."

"A favor," Kurama repeated, still puzzled.

"Is it alright if you meet me here in my temple, tomorrow morning?" Genkai's voice was deeply serious. "I want to discuss a specific matter with you and I know you would gladly pay your attention upon hearing this."

"What is it that you think would get my interest then?" Kurama grew serious.

"I met an individual which has a condition the same as yours." It took Kurama a second or two before Genkai's words deem into his mind. He wasn't sure if he was hearing the words right or what? Could Genkai be implying that there is another individual the same as he, who possess a powerful spirit inside his body? Could that even be possible? If yes, then he had to see it for himself.

"Sure, I'll go." He answered without any further thoughts.

"Good. I'll look forward on seeing you tomorrow then," Genkai said. "Bye."

"Goodbye, Master Genkai." He hung up the phone and for a while stood there motionless beside the phone, wondering if Genkai's story was viable. For a fact, he had live seventeen years of his life, believing he was the only individual, the only human being in the whole wide world who has an indomitable spirit within his body…but now after listening to Genkai, _everything he believed in might change starting tomorrow._

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*_bakaron-_ it's a bad word in Nihonggo (Japanese) meaning stupid, a fool or a moron.


	6. Surprise

_**Chapter 5- 'Surprise'**_

"…_A kind of pure love that can willingly go against any honor code time and destiny may have…just to obtain a set of chances it once had never had…"_

It was a pleasant Sunday morning; the sun was well up, beaming down from a cloudless blue-sky. While the gentle breeze brought by the warm wind fan his skin as he mount his way up the stairway leading to Genkai's temple.

Upon reaching the midpoint of the stairs, Kurama opted to stop and turned a thorough gaze toward the temple ahead of him. It has been months since he had last visited the place and that was during before the Makai Tournament had taken place. Back then, he sought Genkai's help to train Chu, Jin, Touya and the other guys from the Dark Tournament for the sole purpose of helping him protect the balance of the Three Worlds in case he couldn't stop Yomi from ruling Makai all by himself. During those days, everything in his life seems so complicated but now that it had all ended up, it appears normal life for him wasn't that interesting either.

Feeling a bit nostalgic himself, Kurama sighed and chose to continue his stride. When just then as he was about to set his foot on the bottom step of the second flight of stairs, something caught his regard and halted him immediately. It was a certain movement coming from the woods. There was something out there and it's coming forward to his direction fast. _Was it one of the demons whom he and Akira had encountered two days ago? Was it there for another assassination plot to kill him?_

Kurama stood firmly at his feet and with a light side-step turned his body toward the direction where the entity would probably come out from. Attentively then he lifted his hand near the nape of his neck and crimson hair, preparing for an immediate attack. If the approaching entity is indeed one of those demons who had earlier tried to kill him then this time he's sure, he wouldn't care knowing its devious motive anymore, he will eradicate the creature once and for all before it starts to cause further troubles. He knows he must finish this encounter fast and he will do it just by using a mere whiplash.

In no time, the near bushes fluttered then out of it came the entity, but it was no demon, it was a human horrendously running toward him. And then the next set of occurrence came so sudden that it didn't gave Kurama a second or two to react for the human already came and robustly bumped him. Good thing, he had kept his balance and didn't stumble to the ground unlike the other one, who tumbled to the ground with a loud thud. As soon as Kurama had gained back his proper composure, he intently scrutinized the human who had just bumped him but found it difficult to judge his gender with its blackish-brown head down and its facial features unseen. _"Was it a guy?" _Kurama had to ask himself for he too wasn't certain about it.

"Curse it…that hurts," Kurama heard the person slouched on the ground wailed. And upon hearing that voice; it didn't took him that long enough to recognize who voice it was. He was wrong, Kurama thought, the person who bumped him wasn't a lad; it was a girl who preferred looking more like a lad. No doubt, he had always mistaken her for a boy because her favored trend is as rugged as one, Kurama grumbled in his thoughts. There she was sprawled on the ground, wearing a baby-blue long-sleeve shirt with a hood, paired by knee-length khakis and athletic bluish Nikes.

"Ah…A-kira…?" he had to pause to let that sink in. "…Is that you…?"

The girl reluctantly turned her looked up and stared at him with eyes full of astonishment and bewilderment. "Minamino-san?!!" she exclaimed with a voice that held an unpleasant tone reminiscent of a child who had just seen a monster. "What the hell—I…I mean, I never imagined seeing you here!!! What a hell surprise it is…!"

What a fine one to talk of surprise, Kurama groused in his thoughts, when she was the one here always surprising him with her sudden emergence…just like this one. Trying not to show any slight expression of being surprised, he turned his attention back to the girl and offered his hand to help her up.

Akira awkwardly took his hand and he gently pulled her upright. "Thanks," she said and quickly averted her eyes to the absurd shopping bag she was carrying in her other arm, the one with no injury, Kurama presumed. Anxiously Akira rummage through the plastic bag, and from what Kurama could see, there were five glass bottles in it, chocolates, a couple of vegetables and meat. And then with a relieve sigh, Akira smiled back at him and giggled, "I got lost in that stupid forest as I was on my way back from the grocery. Good thing, the items I bought are still here even after that remarkable, ludicrous, scampered I just did."

A little smile quivered on Kurama's lips. What a funny plot, the great Akira known for her fortune telling and stuffs couldn't make her way out of the forest. Guess, although Akira was gifted with a great sense of intuition, she was still fragile when it comes to guessing directions, Kurama funnily thought.

"Okay," Akira uttered quite rowdily, catching Kurama's attention. And then with her hands clasped at her waist, she eyed at him curiously with an eyebrow raised. "Spout it, mister. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your parents today going to some church or with your friends hanging out in the mall?"

Kurama lightly shook his head with a little smile. Again, here she is, asking a question, he should be asking to her, Kurama sighed in his thoughts. "Pardon me, but I think I should be the one asking you that question."

"Quite blunt today, eh?" Akira taunted with a mocking smirk. "Well, let me tell you something, mister," she added deadpanned and pointed at the temple's gate ahead of them. "That shrine ahead of us is my sensei's property. _And I stay there._"

"You stay there?" Kurama had to ask again that for he wasn't sure if he was hearing Akira's words right, "Together with your sensei?"

"Yup, _together with my sensei; _the world-renowned psychic _named Genkai_" she proudly stated, nodding.

Well, that's clear. Akira Hasegawa, an apparition, a classmate, a soothsayer, a demon grappler and now an apprentice of Genkai. What else could there be? Kurama sighed.

"And now, let's go back to you," Akira suddenly said, stepping a bit closer to him. "Tell me, what is someone like you doing here, huh?"

Upon Akira mentioning that, he remembered the reason why he was specifically there…and that was to meet the person Genkai had told him about; an individual the same as he, who has an ethereal spirit inside his body. Kurama stared back at the girl in front of him, could Genkai be implying about—_'No, that couldn't be, it's way far-fetched,' _Kurama mentally kicked himself, trying to disregard the obtuse notion entering his mind.

"I'm here to visit someone," became his wryly reply.

"Don't tell me…" Akira muttered then for a moment gazed straight through him as if she was inspecting him and his every detail. And just then these incredulous words followed, coming out from her mouth, "You're the guy who woos Yukina!!! My god! I can't believe this! This is the biggest scoop ever! I think the Meio newspaper club would love this. They might even give me the editorial spot for this story 'The Great Prodigy of Meio High, Shuichi Minamino and the Mysterious Girl, he dates!' Possibly, all the girls would be in riot just reading it. It would be an influential art piece of literature!"

Kurama stared at her with severe awe, this time he couldn't hold it back anymore. '_Where does this one-of-a-kind girl get her zany ideas from_?' For the first time he curiously wanted to know. "No, you're getting it all wrong," he shook his head apprehensively, his hands leveled on his chest. "That's my friend Kuwabara, you're talking about." Now what was he doing—he explaining to her? In some point, Kurama thinks he himself had already lost his mind.

Akira shook her finger under his nose. "C'mon Minamino-san, denying things wouldn't lead you anywhere," she spouted with a patronizing air, naughtily leering at him. "Yukina is gorgeous, kind and naïve. No one will blame you for falling in love with her. She's the sweetest girl ever."

"No, I'm not here to visit Yukina," Kurama interrupted her but Akira continued chattering, ignoring him and his explanation.

"Don't worry about the scoop thingy, I'm just joking about that," she added, waving her hand frivolously. "If you are truly and madly in love with Yukina, then who am I to set you and her apart? Believe it or not, I'm a hopeless romantic, so I'll support you, Minamino-san, and your goal to win my friend's heart!"

Kurama growled at that and held his forehead with his hand. _This is going to take forever_, he thought.

"And besides," Akira added again while Kurama was beginning to feel weary. "Who else would you be interested visiting in a place like this but a pretty girl at your age, right? You wouldn't be here looking for someone like Master Genkai…well…she's five-times older than you…or so…"

"Well, truthfully, I am indeed looking for Genkai," Kurama briskly answered, wanting to end Akira's further boastfulness.

The answer did shut Akira's mouth. She ogled at him in disbelief, dropped-jaw. And just when he thought she wouldn't speak again, came abruptly her reaction, "Oh freaking hell, don't tell me you like…very…old—"

Of course, Kurama exactly knew what wild words Akira would say next, so he immediately cut her off even before she could finish her sentence. "_I'm an old friend of Genkai._ The apprentice she had before you was really a good friend of mine too. It is through him that I met Genkai and learned her expertise."

"Interested in Genkai's expertise?" she repeated huffily, the excitement of her voice fading. And Kurama had the impression she was repressing a growl.

Kurama nodded, avoiding a spoken answer to shun Akira from uttering any wild reactions…again.

"Gee, of all the things you'd be interested in, it's the supernatural that caught your attention…" she grunted and started ascending the second plight of stairs. "Aren't you coming or not?" She stopped at the seventh stair and gazed back at Kurama, who remained still on his place. "Genkai's busy in her arcade-wonderland room playing stupid games such as 3-D pinball. And if you don't hurry up she might become so engrossed playing one of those confounded games and find no time to talk to you. So stop ogling like that and start moving your feet!"

"Agreed," Kurama softly nodded and started off to his feet, following Akira's pace.

"…Finding a scoop about the love life of the mysterious, prodigy, quiet, Shuichi is still a far much better news than knowing the paranormal appeals to him…hmm…" she huffily said over her shoulder. Comically uttered or sarcastically said, Kurama neither knows.

"Well, anyway…why don't you stay here for the day, we will have a party and I think you'll enjoy it," she added, not looking to him.

"A party?" he asked.

"Yes, A party!" Akira giddily answered and with a bouncy step, perkily turned around. Her movement was so flippantly and clumsy that Kurama had to ready himself in case Akira lose her balance and end up falling. "It's my birthday today," she cheerfully added with a broad smile on her face. "Here, look at this," she scoured the grocery bag in her arm and brought out one of the bottles he had saw earlier in it, and held it out to him as if endorsing the beverage, "It's Saki. I just hope you're not a fan of the Anti-Alcoholic society who says 'minors shouldn't drink any wine or alcoholic beverages', cause will party all-day-long!!!"

"Happy birthday then," Kurama greeted her with a gentle-kind smile. "Sorry I couldn't give you anything for your special day though."

"You mean a gift?" she chuckled and started ascending the stairs again. "No need. Besides, you already surprise me…and only a few people could do that to me. You should be proud of it."

A fond smile quivered on Kurama's lips at that remark.

When they both reached the peak, Akira adamantly took the act of opening the enormous temple's gate, although Kurama had offered to do so. She was so insistent doing it that Kurama couldn't do anything but to let her do the laborious act to stop her from grumbling and grouching.

A faint howl and creak escaped from the enormous gate as Akira pushed it open, while Kurama interestedly watched her, wondering in the same time how could a petite girl like her can effortlessly open a door as colossal as a middle-aged pine tree.

"We all need to work out once in a while, don't you agree?" she said smiling while doing an arm-circling routine with her left un-injured arm, her right hand placed on her left shoulder as if supporting it. And with a bubbly march she entered the temple and gestured Kurama to follow her.

The calm ambiance of the place welcomed Kurama as he went in; the gentle breeze and crackling of the leaves of the trees, the soft sound of the bamboo pounding on the rock before the pond and the chirping of the near birds resting on the small stonework effigies. The whole place didn't change at all; it looked exactly the same just like before.

"Akira is that you?" Kurama heard a mild voice asked. And just then a wallboard from the front-left side of the temple slide opened and came out a turquoise-haired ice apparition with crimson eyes that reminded Kurama of his good friend, Hiei, who also happens to be the unrevealed brother of this ice apparition. The girl was wearing a pastel pink dress. And upon seeing him, the girl's eyes rounded but sooner left her features and were altered with a sweet smile.

"Kurama," Yukina said, ogling at him. "It's nice of you to visit us here."

"Kurama?!!" he heard Akira blurted, wholly confused. And out of the corner of his eye, Kurama saw how the girl confusedly looked from him to Yukina and then back at him. "What did Yukina just call you? _Kurama!_ And who the hell is that?!! I thought you're name was Shuichi! What the devil is going on—"

"O hisashiburi desu…Kurama," a dry voice interrupted Akira, and then came out Genkai, smiling at him. 'It's been a long time…Kurama.'

* * *

"Hmph," Akira grunted and huffed, staring down at her bare feet wading in the pond water, creating ripples. She was sitting fisherman-still on the big rock by the side of the said pond, her elbows on her knees, her chin resting on the palms of her hands—all alone by the pond with a blue-winged chaperon.

Averting her eyes, she saw two people in one of the temple rooms a few meters away from her; sitting on the floor, Japanese style, face to face. Genkai told her to keep her poky-nose away from there that's why she's here by the pond with a Big-Blue-Bird at her side, ludicrously keeping an eye on her.

"Do you know him?" she turned to the Big-Bird that was not from Sesame Street but from the Spirit World. It has blue feathers and it was the biggest bird she had ever seen throughout her entire life, it also has a comical black hair that hung from his head down to its neck. Genkai called this supernatural creature, Puu. A very cute name suited for a little dainty stuff toy not for a Big-Birdie Monster, Akira thought…"Huh, Puu?"

The Big-Blue-Bird just tilted its head and stupidly stared back at her.

"…Sometimes, I wish you could talk Puu just like in those fairytales," she grumbled and gazed back at the red-head present in the same room with her Master Genkai. The wallboards of the room were unclosed so in her vantage point, she could clearly see his face and whatever facial expression he may produce. The red-head was wearing a pair of refined clothing, he had on a white formal long-sleeve polo, gray-blackish pants and had on a pair of boy clippers (I couldn't exactly describe the garment but it was the exact set of clothes Kurama wore during the episode when he was thinking outside a garden about his personality divergence while his family was eating inside a restaurant…it was during the Third Arc of Yu Yu Hakusho about his alliance with Yomi, hope you still remember ^^).

"You know, Puu. About that guy over there, he's my classmate," Akira absurdly continued talking to the Big-Blue-Bird beside her, with her eyes still fixed on the red-head. "He's Shuichi Minamino, the quiet, school prodigy, the wonder bio-wizard, the genius, whatever positive adjective you may know of, he has it, the girls always said it to me…And you know what, two days ago I saw him with three demons plotting to kill him, and now he's here talking to Master Genkai, telling me, his an old friend of her and Genkai's old apprentice…not only that, Yukina and Master Genkai also called him by the name of _Kurama_… Such an enigmatic person, eh…? How about you, Puu, what do you think of him?"

The Big-Bird cocked its head again, only this time Akira notice something that crept within the Big-Bird's feature, it foolishly look to her as if the Big-Birdie was smiling a Cheshire cat grin at her.

"And what's that look suppose to mean?" Akira grouchily queried to the Bird-Birdie, her eyebrow lifted. She doesn't know why but she swears there something plotting on that Big-Birdie's brain, something she doesn't like, and she bet she's right with her suspicion. "You have one second to stop that idiotic smile, Puu. Otherwise, you'll be a toasted phoenix for tonight's dinner!"

"…fine, who cares about what a Big-Birdie thinks," she grunted and sighed, turning her attention back to the room where Master Genkai and Red-Head was sitting, discussing about something she doesn't know—but something she could know…the thought instantly hit her. And curiosity, her virtue, started to overwhelm her whole self again.

"Puu…" she looked back to the Big-Birdie with her ultra-superpower puppy eyes and gullible look. "…Please, could you let me…you know—their discussing something important there and we need to know it, Puu. I know I'm confoundedly curious but what can you do, curiosity is a part of human nature."

The Big-Bird inclined its head again.

"Okay, _fine_, I'm not totally a human…but still…I was raised up as one. So could you please be a darling and let me sneak in there to hear their conversation…Pretty, please, please…Promise, I'll buy you a dozen of those super-deluxe Placinta you're craving for if you'll let me off."

This time Big-Bird didn't cock its head or anything.

"Silence means yes, Puu," she said with a mischievous grin, dipping off her feet away from the water and started getting off the rock. Akira then wore her Athletic bluish Nikes (proper hygiene completely forgotten: 'never wear your shoes if your feet are wet'), quickly as possible, before the Big-Birdie changes its mind. And was about to scurry her way inside the temple and sneak, when suddenly she felt Puu's beak on her shirt's hoodie; and without any hum, raised her off the ground like she was just a puny raisin picked off from the floor.

Seeing her feet inches away from the ground, Akira began to writhe and shout. "Hey!!! Let me down, you stupid Birdie!!! Let me down now!!! And I mean NOW!!!"

The Big-Birdie didn't put her down but continued to raise her off the ground, back near the pond water.

"I want you to put me down now or _else no lunch or dinner for you_, BIG BIRDIE!!!" And with that, Puu stopped and Akira drew a sigh of relief, but upon seeing the thing that lies underneath her, she began to squirm again—for beneath her there was the cold, pond water, waiting. "WAIT, NOT THERE, PUU!!! NO—"

But it was too late, the Big-Birdie had already let go of her hoodie, sending her straight to the pond.

_**SPLASH!!!**_

She instantly felt the cold water splatter at her and her clothes all soaked up. And for the first time in her life, she was tempted to cruelly kill an animal and grill it _using her own bare hands._

"…_damn_…IT!!!!" her last word 'it' shook with sheer fury. Her full-boom voice audible a mile away, she believed. And the only thing that had stopped her from her further uttering of blasphemies was a cold reprimand coming from no other than her beloved Master Genkai.

"GET YOUR DIM-WIT ASS OFF MY POND!!!" she heard the old lady shouted from the room. She was standing with her fists clenched and staring at her with unconcealed infuriation.

"Gomen nasai!" she yelled back. "…And this is your entire fault…" she immediately scowled at the Big-Blue Birdie, who was gazing back at her with plain amusement.

Akira growled and jadedly held her forehead, _"…And just when I thought I was the luckiest person on earth…"_

* * *

"She certainly does bring life to this solitary temple, doesn't she?" Kurama remarked addressing to the dull-pink haired old woman, standing near her, scolding the short-haired girl soaked in the pond water outside.

"Gomen nasai!" she heard the short-haired girl yelled back.

"If you mean breaking the house down then you're right," Genkai huffily said over her shoulder and witheringly went back to her place and sat down, crossed arms. "Now, let's go back to our discussion."

Kurama politely nodded.

"Actually, I'm quite surprised learning you and Akira are classmates," the old woman admitted, staring back to the short-haired girl outside; who was now balling her fists at Yusuke's spirit beast, Puu and was shouting profane words again…a habit of her. "She's been here for two months now, and she's quite a one-hell-of-an-energetic moron like Yusuke, who never thinks before doing something…I still couldn't forget the day when she first appeared outside the temple, kneeling to the ground and begging me to help her find the answers to her questions relying about her true identity. She told me that she has these unique abilities and she doesn't know how to deliberately control them, and she herself is an eccentric occurrence in our real world… a very moronic thing to say…I believe."

A warm smile crossed Kurama's face.

"Then I told her that I wouldn't help her because she's just another moronic enthusiast," Genkai continued. "I thought she would go back home with that but you know what she did, she stayed there on her place, kneeling on the ground almost for a day, not leaving the temple's gate." The old woman smiled in amused recollection. "That afternoon, I went out again, and I told her to leave, but she told me she wouldn't, she said that she will do anything even sacrifice everything just for me to help her find her true identity, her real individuality that lies inside her. And at that moment, I swear I saw those dark-brown eyes of her flared up with pure determination…just like Yusuke's. She indeed really reminds me of Yusuke. And of that day when he left the Human World to find his true identity in the realms of Makai, and that also reminded me of the words I told Kuwabara that faithful day that we owe Yusuke the chance to fumble around in the darkness for the answers…and that was just what this girl did."

"Agreed, Yusuke and Akira are very much alike," Kurama chuckled, remembering the time when Akira hurled her own self to the demon to stop it from attacking him without even thinking first that she might hurt her own self in the process.

"And that was that, I accepted her here," Genkai proceeded. "And that was also the start of Akira showing her true capabilities and her true nature. She's very talented in predicting the future, also with instincts when she doesn't doubt her abilities. But the thing that caught my whole attention was her odd capability that I believe no normal human even with a great spiritual awareness can just do…"

"Her ability to control the wind, right?" he said, forthrightly.

"Yes. So that means the dimwit did used her abilities in your school," Genkai shook her head, reproachfully. "I told her not to but still…she did…She's thoroughly hopeless…"

"Well, she did use it, but I think at that time, it's completely unavoidable," Kurama confessed, tight-lipped, avoiding to mention what Akira really did at that time.

"You have your point. And I believed that wouldn't be the last time she would show her abilities too, she's quite a hard-headed one" Genkai wearily supposed.

"And I think she's quite proud of her abilities too," Kurama said with an amiable smile but quickly altered the topic back to what it supposed to be. "So this power of her to control or summon the wind, how did she had this ability?"

"…_because she's like you_…" Genkai answered frankly but in a low voice, averting her eyes back to the short-haired girl outside with Puu. "She has an ethereal spirit inside her body, nestling there, sleeping, just like Youko inside you."

Kurama eagerly nodded, suggesting Genkai to elaborate it further.

"Hers is an air spirit," Genkai added, turning back to him. "Air spirits are elemental spirits of the wind and air. The old people believed that these air spirits are celestial sons and daughters of Shina Tsu-Hiko, the Chief God of the Wind and Air, the one who controls the winds and the very air that the people breathe. Shina-Tsu-Hiko as the Chief God of the Wind has the power to control the winds anywhere on earth and can use this capability to bring hot, dusty conditions, pleasant rains, terrible storms and so forth, and some of these capabilities are inherited by the air spirits. Shina-Tsu-Hiko and these air spirits are the ones who fill up the empty spaces between the earth and the heaven. And these spirits are a part of the Celestial World or the Heavenly Kingdom."

"…At first, I too, couldn't believe. Celestial entities are snobbier than demons. They separated their world away from the other ones and considered themselves as the superior and purest of all entities. So how could a celestial air spirit find her way here in the Human World and nestle in a human's body was the question that perplexed me and Akira as well until now."

"How did you prove it? That Akira was a half-ethereal entity," Kurama questioned and was aware of a rare curiosity that escaped from his voice.

A fascinated grin quivered on Genkai's lips, "I saw it once with my own eyes" she proudly stated. "Well, after numerous tries, I must admit. The damn celestial spirit even in its slumber greatly protects Akira making the whole process terribly hard for me. At that time, I asked Akira to meditate and let our inner minds and thoughts unite together by means of telepathic interaction, it was so arduous and it took very long before I finally saw what I sought after because of Akira's perplexed mind and of the air spirit's protection as well…but when I saw it, it was truly worth it though the image was still obscure…"

"Obscure?" Kurama repeated.

Genkai nodded. "Yes. Obscure. And it's difficult to explain but I'll try hard to picture it out for you. You see, Akira's inner mind is a dark-oblivion labyrinth with nothing in it other than complete darkness…_and an imperious bluish-white ray of light coming from the spirit_. And the latter one is the thing that surrounded the air spirit or let me say _the light itself was emitted by the air spirit._ That light was so powerful, indomitable, blinding in fact once you come near it, _but in a way it was not eerie, it was pure, warm and calming… or let me just use a trite adjective word 'divine'…_And beyond that light, I partially saw _it_, an _outline of a young lady with long hair hovering in the bluish-cloudy light slantingly, curled up like what an unborn child would look like inside a mother's womb…and on its back was a pair of enthralling white-feathered wings enveloping it and its body._ But that what all I saw, I couldn't go near it anymore. The light was becoming stronger the more I intend to move forward to the apparition and it felt as if the light was piercing my flesh…And then before I knew it, unnoted oblivion overcame me. The next thing I remember then was Akira's pale, worried face above mine; she was waking me up, shouting and shaking my body horribly. Can you believe it, I, Genkai, had fainted during that process…?"

"You didn't see her face?" Kurama keenly queried, not minding the humor Genkai had inject in her last sentence.

"Unfortunately, not," Genkai shook her head; disappointment could be seen in her face.

Kurama nodded. Thoughts started to appear and wander around his mind.

The day when he first saw Akira saving the little kid, those wings that sprouted from her back, it was true, it wasn't just a mere mendacious hallucination of him. It was a fact, a fact that serves also as a proof to what Akira Hasegawa really is.

The summoning of the wind she did, the fortune telling, the palmistry and all… her different aura, her strong, inhuman aura, those were just one of the underlying evidence that proves Akira wasn't really a human…but a half-celestial, half-human entity…_a human with an ethereal spirit inside her body…like him._

"Now, about the favor," Genkai uttered, catching Kurama's attention away from his sequence of thoughts, "I know this one may not fit in your kind of field nor of your other side but still I need to try. And I won't go further by beating around the bush. Kurama_, I want to ask you to guide and help Akira on her matters…_Like the psychic who she had once confide her problem back at her country, I, too, couldn't perfectly direct her and teach her for I myself couldn't verily understand her true nature, nor the limitation and extent of her power_…that's why I need your help._ You are the only one in this world who could understand her, her real self perhaps…_for you and she are alike. You two are both of the same nature, Kurama,_ two individuals with two different previous souls resting inside them. _And in a way, I know you would understand her more than I do…"_

Genkai lowered her head and shifted to another position then in a low, muffled voice she continued, "And besides, I'm afraid she might lose herself because of the other one."

"What do you mean by that?"

The old lady sighed and gave him a long-serious look that seems to pierce through him, "Even if Akira has this powerful apparition inside her, her body isn't stronger than it appears to be. Unlike you, your human body is capable of the random effects your other demon nature has including that of the demonic energy. Hers, couldn't, Akira's human body is frail, weak, and if not for the air spirit's power, she could have died early years ago, I suppose. Hypothetically speaking, the only reason perhaps why the air spirit had chosen Akira's human body was because she was born having a strong spiritual awareness which I believed she got from her past ancestor. Other than that, I find no more reason."

"…From my observation, Akira's human body and energy has a zigzag coordination, figuratively speaking. Sometimes her energy and power becomes too stronger that in the end she couldn't control it anymore…and sometimes, she can be as weak as a feeble kitten would look like…_ Her relationship with the air spirit could be simply stated as this, the air spirit gives her, her life energy and on the contrary, her body continues to nestle the air spirit just like an energy container as what it looks like._ So you see, if Akira loses control of her power in anyway, _she might kill herself in the process…_"

"I understand," Kurama nodded.

"So…?"

"Yes,_ I'll keep an eye on her, _Genkai_,"_ he answered with a little smile on his face. "Besides, I presume it wouldn't be that hard baby-sitting a half-celestial entity, as you said, they consider themselves royal in their manner and bearing."

"Not her," Genkai huffily grunted. "She's mercurial, idiotically intense and very impulsive."

"No wonder, she could hastily throw herself to some demon," Kurama slightly chuckled in a muffled voice but was clearly heard by Genkai.

"What do you mean by that? Don't tell me, she…"

"Well, we had this unexpected encounter two days ago with some demon," he admitted, tight-lipped, and had to explain and tell the whole story to Genkai. And as soon as he was finished, Genkai sighed and turned to him sternly.

"It's not the first time Akira had behaved so recklessly, and it will not probably be the last as well. However, there is one thing I fail to understand, _you_, if Akira had been a normal person and had seen those things, it would be a chaos, and I know you're perfectly are aware of that fact. But why didn't you erase her memory, Kurama? To someone as smart as you that is the first thing that would come out of your mind to do."

Why didn't he? Kurama had asked himself. "She has a powerful spiritual awareness, it may not take effect on her," he answered convincingly though in his own self, he too was puzzled by his own act.

"Not a very viable decision though."

Agreed, not really a viable decision, but a viable excuse, Kurama thought. He then averted his eyes to the short-haired girl outside who was now trying to wrestle down Puu's neck with all her strength.

…Why didn't he erase Akira's memory back then? The question queried back to Kurama's head. Genkai was correct, his decision back then was quite heedless and reckless. And even though he did convinced Akira that he didn't know those demons back then (as what he believed he did convincingly), the thing here is, that action of his wasn't still a clever thing to do…especially for someone like him who always do the things the right way, clear and flawless…but now— He sighed and resignedly halted his notion.

Of that reckless decision, one thing he knows, that he, Kurama, had act so negligently for something without any reason at all… _for the very first time…_

* * *

After his conversation with Genkai, he affably took her offer to stay for lunch or rather should he say party. Cause as soon as he entered the temple's dining room, different wholesome cuisines rested on the wooden table together with the three bottles of Saki that Akira had bought.

Thorough the party, the birthday girl cheerfully blabbered about everything, her wishes for her Master Genkai, for Yukina, for her family and for the others except her own wish. And the only time she grunted was when Genkai scold her about the hasty decision she made two days ago during their encounter with the demons. Akira scowled at him and grumbled that his 'a red-head tittle-tattle'. After that, Akira and Genkai had agreed on a Saki competition, the one who drinks the most number of Saki wins. The condition according to Akira is that if she wins Genkai would stop lecturing her about her own-made decisions and that Genkai would also stop calling her a dim-wit. While if Genkai wins she'll have to clean the temple without any grouch and complain for five months straight without any help from Yukina. The two were really determined and Kurama must admit he himself was entertained by the two as they continue to drink the liquor. There were both dogged up that Yukina had to buy more bottles of Saki for the two to continue their contest.

At the end, both of the contenders got drunk, Akira's head stumble down on the table with a loud thud. While Yukina and he had to help each other to haul the red-faced drunken Genkai out of the room and put her to bed. After a good deal of cursing and swearing, Genkai eventually had retired back to bed.

"Go back there," Yukina murmured to him as soon as Genkai's breathing had slowed and deepened indicating that she was now pass asleep. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on Genkai."

Kurama nodded and decided to go back to the dining room. But when he opened the sliding oriental wallboard, he didn't found the other drunken one inside the room. So he went outside and found her at the backside of the temple. She was resting under a tree, sitting down on the dirt ground with her legs sticking out. Her eyes closed.

She was now wearing a new set of clothes...but still the same boyish look. She had on a magenta sleeveless shirt with a hood (again) that exposed her arms; her upper right arm swathe with bandage, a pair of faded-color jeans and white rubber shoes.

And as he went closer to her, Kurama recognized Akira's trifle flush cheeks and her drowsy, steady breathing pattern.

"Are you asleep?" he mellifluously asked as soon as he was too close enough for her to hear.

Akira's head groggily stirred, "…and if I say yes…" she murmured with a lopsided grin on her lips, her eyes closed, "…would you still talk to me…?"

Kurama smiled and sat back next to her, leaning his back against the tree.

"So you're not that too drunk as you pretended to be," Kurama coyly remarked.

"Not really, just a bit dizzy. One more glass of Saki in my throat and I'm sure of throwing up," she softly answered. "And besides," her heavy eyelids lifted and she turned to him, "Even if I win that contest, Genkai would still call me a dimwit whenever she likes because well…that's what she likes…" a muffled chuckle broke her sentence. "And even if she doesn't win, I'll still have to clean the temple because it's my responsibility to do so. The agreement is just a mere nonsense brought up to awaken our lethargic spirits…"

A long silence followed and the only sounds that entered Kurama's sensitive ears were the crackling of the leaves above them, the soft sighing of the wind and Akira's slow, light breathing and a couple of hiccough that broke its pattern.

"Genkai told me that today I'm going to meet a person who can help me with my puny, little problems," she quietly uttered, her gaze wandering off from a distance. "Tell me, is she mentioning about you?"

Kurama idly nodded, aware that Akira could perceive it in her peripheral vision.

"Really…? You'll be able to help me?" she asked skeptically, turning her head to him. And with an amused look, she sarcastically spouted, "Using what? Your good looks or your big brain…?"

An unnoted smirk sneak onto his features as Kurama shook his head. "Genkai believed I can help you because _I'm like you_…"

"Huh? And what do you mean by that Minamino—or should I call you Kurama-san?"

"Either of the two, because in both ways you're still referring to one person, to me," he said but seeing Akira's brows furrowed out of the corner of his eyes, he proceeded to elucidate. "Shuichi is the name I've taken in my human form, sort of. I was a fox, a spirit fox, gaining the powers of a demon over the hundreds of years that I live. In time, I became bored and pass my hours learning the art of breaking codes and seals. Ancient treasures were my favorite sport. But seventeen years ago, I made a careless mistake and was badly injured by a strong pursuer. With the last energy I have, I escaped to this world and became the child of a proud human family."

"A demon's spirit who nestled into a woman's unborn child, the child of the woman I saw in the picture," she uttered the amazement in her voice noticeable. "So you're a fox spirit, a fox demon to be precise, and a human. Shuichi is the name of this human I'm seeing right now…and Kurama is you're other name, right, if I'm correct with my deduction?"

Kurama nodded, "Genkai met me by that name and also Yusuke, the guy who I owe a big debt to."

"He's Genkai's apprentice, right? She always talked about him and often brags how my impulsiveness reminded her of him," Akira said, rolling her eyes. "So if you know that Urameshi guy…then…" she gave him a long look and then her eyes suddenly bugged out and she shouted, "Then that only means you're _one of the guy_ who fought with him in that so-called Dark Tournament!"

"Indeed," he answered, still not turning to her.

"Really?" she asked enthusiastically, leaning forward to him. "Oh my hell…? You're not only a straight-A Nerdy but also a champion in some Demon Freaking Match, not only that you're also a demon yourself! No wonder, those demons from our encounter two days ago are afraid of you. The strong aura I felt wasn't theirs but yours." Her astonished voice changing into saccharine tones, she then added, "…And not only that, you're a fine actor too, innocently acting the other day that he doesn't know what those repulsive creatures of his kind are called. What a one hell of a fraud?"

A sheepish smile smeared on Kurama's face. "But in some point I am indeed telling the truth, particularly the part how I hadn't had the chance to know what those demons actually wanted from me because you suddenly came out of nowhere and—"

"Don't finish it or I'll knock you out," Akira interrupted, vexed on his underhanded attempt at a tease. One of her fist clinched gesturing it to Kurama.

"As you wish," he stifled his arousing laughter, turning to her. "Since I shared my part of information, I think it's your turn now."

"Oh," she said, her stiff shoulders sagged, her clinched hand eased. "Do I have to? It seems you know a lot about me now especially after talking to Genkai."

"Not that much, I believe, still insufficient for a definitive conclusion," was his smart reply.

"Fine, fine, I'll speak," she uttered with a heavy sigh. While her hand went into her right wrist and untied the present bandage on it as what Kurama had referred earlier as an activist symbol. And as the bandage was off, he saw a small amorphous cloudlike, bluish-green birthmark on her skin. "It's my innate insignia given to me by the air spirit. The doctor's were baffled by its eccentric color, they couldn't properly explain it," she amusedly laughed. "Though I'm not puzzled by it because everything in my life is eccentric, even the day when I was born. In our country, this month is considered as one of the hottest month but when I was born, it was raining hard…the air spirit caused it…I believed."

"…You're much luckier than me, I must say…because I grew up without knowing that I'm a half-ethereal entity…that I am not normal. I grew up like any other normal human kids except that I can do some things that the others can't. Almost all my life, I believed I was normal only to wake up in the world of reality that I wasn't. I really didn't took it seriously back then if I can do extraordinary things that normal human's can't…because I thought there are just mere products of my wild imagination…which isn't," a frown appeared in her lips. "It's just last year that I became fully aware of my real identity. I sought almost all the best psychic I could know of to help me back in my country, but no one had really helped me a lot…no one had really answer the question I have in mind. Until one of those psychics told me about Genkai, that's when I decided to leave my country and come back here in Japan, to search for her…without my mother knowing it and the details about my sudden decision."

"You see, the air spirit I have inside my body is always in her slumber… We don't talk too much, I don't even know her damned name and damned past… the only times I can communicate to her is through my sub consciousness…and that is when she just only wants to, which is rarely often to happen, although sometimes she uses my dreams too. But still the things she just makes me perceive are the unimportant ones, the enigmatic ones that I too couldn't clearly fathom."

"Anyway, about myself, I couldn't exactly say to you that I consider myself and her as one, because, really I don't. I myself couldn't even exactly understand what I really am. I just think of it this way, I'm Akira, the human side and she as the celestial being, we are converged as one because we just share the same body and nothing more…I think she's different and I too…and that were not the same. It's like two different people living under the same roof and that same roof is this mortal body…" she stopped with a quizzical look on her face, her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not making sense at all, am I?"

Kurama shook his head. "I do understand consider that I am like you."

"Not that very much alike…You're much luckier than I, I will repeat, because you already know in the first place what you truly are unlike me…who all her life thought of herself as a human though in a part of her, there is something insisting that she isn't and wouldn't be but she doesn't listen to it because of her stubbornness," she sighed and fixed her gape to a distance. "Damn it…it sounds like I don't really accept who I truly am," she said out the corner of her mouth.

A companionable silence followed, both of them still on their places with Kurama looking at her.

Akira sighed and looked back at him, this time with serious, lonesome dark-brown eyes, "I don't know why I'm telling all of this to you…maybe because I feel comfortable with you," she edged closer to Kurama and stared straight through his green-eyes. She was so close to him that Kurama could scent the sweet-mild-vanilla perfume in her clothes. "…Or maybe because…I'm just drunk—and I think I'm going—to throw up—"

A suppress stifled sound escaped from her lips, but the split second it took Kurama to comprehend what Akira's fore-coming act was a split second too long. The girl had raised her hands to Kurama's shoulder and a more louder suppress sound followed, Akira threw her head down and then—

"Wait…Akira—"Kurama apprehensively uttered and precipitately tried to back away from her. But Akira's petite but strong hands locked him up to his place. And then followed a more growling sound from Akira, this time it was not suppress…and then—

Her little body shook and she muffled the words, "…Jo…dan…de…su…yo…" 'Just…Kidding'

"Uh?" Kurama felt his eyebrows furrowed, his apprehensiveness disappeared.

Akira's threw her head back and she flashed him a cheesy grin, feeling all giddy at her success attempt of fooling him. "Strike one!" she chuckled and leaned back against the tree, holding her stomach and continued laughing hard. "That expression on your face was absolutely priceless!"

"Wow, it sure does feel good tricking a hail-almighty demon like you," she then said to him. And with a soft tap on his shoulder, Akira stood up and flexed her arms up to the sky. "Come on, Shurama, we couldn't let our all-sweet Yukina clean all the mess inside there. We should help her." She started off.

"I beg your pardon?"

She turned back to him. "You told me I can call you using both of your names. 'Shu' came from Shuichi while 'Rama' came from Kurama when emerged Shurama," she finished and continued to jollily trot her way back to the temple. As Kurama was left sitting on the ground by the tree, wondering where this one-of-a-kind-Akira gets her wild ideas from…_again_…

* * *

*_Shina Tsu-Hiko-_ is the Japanese mythological god of wind. {In Japanese fact, there are a lot of wind gods and goddesses, Shina-Tsu-Hiko is the chief god wind in Japanese Mythology but the most famous one is Fujin, a Shinto God. But I didn't used Fujin because he is depicted as an oni with a bag slung over his back. Oni are illustrated in most Japanese paints as Gods with red-grumpy faces who looks like demons so I didn't used him, because we are talking about Celestial-looking identities with angelic faces…^^}

*_spiritual energy-_ is the mysterious kind of energy that can be only utilized through opening your inner mind to another level of awareness. This energy is usually unused by ordinary humans.

*_Placinta- _a savory dessert; a fried sweet dough filled with chocolate.

*_telepathy-_ is a psychic capability of interacting or communicating another person using only the mind and thoughts.

* * *

"Sorry guys for the late update of my story. I'm kind of busy now with a bunch of stupid school home works, projects, tests and extra-curriculum activities. I do have a lot of them, I tell you…I'm the class president, a member of our University's Circle of Student Council, and now, I'm planning to join the Drama Club (yippee!) not only that, I also help my professors with their works…(sighed)…"

"Anyway, thanks for the all people who read my fan fiction story even though it is not that good unlike the other ones…sorry…but I'm trying my best to make it good for you…because it gives me a different kind of satisfaction when I write…and it always makes me feel happy when people review my works…I want to say a bunch of thanks to these people…who read my story…"

~ Death101- Fox Version (thanks for always reviewing ^^, appreciate it so much)

~ Kuro Neko to Kuro Bara

~ Utopian

~ Reincarnated Poet

~ WaterLilly00

~ lilypop8

~ Chibi Botan

"I hope all of you will like this chapter, it's the longest one…but it is also the start of the plot being unfolded…I just hope you will pay a little bit of your time reading it…and also reviewing it…hehe… By the way, you can visit my profile here in now because it's already fixed…yippee!"

"…Another thing, I update my story and already titled the chapters…and I also want to say this…every time I update or add a new chapter to my story…I will also add a trivia part on it for Kurama's diehard fans and…also of Akira, I assume…hehe…! (YEHEY!!!)…because I love you all…so much!!!"

-fallen-sylph ^^

* * *

Trivia for this Chapter:

*_Shuichi_ means one lord; 'shu' means lord, chief, ruler or master, while 'ichi' means one. The name Shuichi is often used by noble, aristocratic members of the higher family during the old times of the Japan.

*_Akira_ means bright and clear.


	7. Reminisced Scent

_**Chapter 6- 'Reminisced Scent'**_

"…_And even if time had already forgotten its memories and sweet promises…it shall not be a worry…for it is always locked up in the deepest corner of the lovers' hearts…"_

The indescribable serene ambiance, the vast light-blue sky, the fluffy masses of clouds calmly hovering in the sky and the gentle zephyr maternally caressing her face and skin; she was dreaming, she knew she was, because such perfect ambiance would never have existed in the real world.

She was in _that_ place again, where the high trees stood like a colonnade with their leafy arms lifted in the sky in praise. With leaves painted by mosaic pieces of emerald and jade crystals, shining and dappled by the present light in the sky as they sway with the unknown rhythm of the breeze.

The magical meadow was there, still the same just like the first time she saw it, there were rare flowers of different colors covering it, there were shades of pink, ice-blue, pearl-white and sunny-yellow. But the one that captivates her attention the most were the simple dandelions, with its seeds playing and dancing merrily in the air.

It was the same dream, the same scene…but this time, there was something different, her vantage point, it appears to her as if she was sitting and could subconsciously feel that she was leaning onto something hard…a tree, no doubt, for that was the only possible thing present in that place that she could lean onto.

…_Her viewpoint was also different_, it was a bit inclined as if her head is resting onto something, only this time it wasn't something that hard like those of a rough surface, it was something warm, soft but kind of stiff.

Could it be possible that her head was resting onto somebody's arm…?

…_But whom?_

She wanted to know.

Akira even though feeling unexplainably languid tried her best to lift her head, which seems to weigh more than a ton that time. But upon lifting it, she sighted a hand, not hers of course, and subliminally felt it touched her left cheek and affectionately pressed her head back to that warm surface—its arm, she believed. _The hand was those of a man, its skin smooth and fair, his palm warm and soft._ And for a moment, she willingly rested her head there, feeling calmly in some inexplicable reason.

A mild zephyr blew and she became aware of her unknown companion's scent. His scent was undeniably refine, the smell of it pleasant and good to her nostrils. _His scent was the same like that of the morning dew, cool and soothing, with a tinge of peppermint aroma. _She jotted the details in her mind and wanted the fact to be in there for a long period of time, she sappily hoped like some silly high-school girl wanting to remember the scent of her boyfriend's perfume.

Just then _rational logic_ blasted off back in her brain like a space rocket…what the hell is happening to her? _She needs to know who this unknown guy beside her is._ _And why the hell is he acting so sweetly to her?_ Who the freaking hell is this unidentified guy with a handsome smell beside her?

For the second time, she lifted her hundred-ton head and unsurprisingly failed. How she hated these kinds of dreams, she grunted in her thoughts. Failed with her second attempt, her only resort was to try another way. She slowly craned her head a bit, still touching the skin of his unknown companion's arm, and then averted her eyes at her side, catching a glimpse of his body and the side of his face—no, not the whole face, but just the lower part of it and his face wasn't even turned to her…inferring that her unknown companion's gaze was off to a distance.

His clothes were white, its style undefined for she had never seen one like it before. His frame was that of a noble, high-class man, not the frail one but the mighty one. His brawny, athletic muscles were noticeable in his bare arms. His long-straight silver locks brushed his shoulders, his neck and the lower part of his face. And then there was the most enthralling one, the lower part of his face, the partial seen side of his fair cheek, and those attractive lips, the most alluring thing she had ever seen throughout her entire life, she must confess, although she feels embarrassed by her own gushy thoughts.

_Darn it! Why just the lips, why couldn't I see his whole features, his face?!! _She wanted to shout and swear but found she couldn't. It was against the rule of this dream, she irately supposed.

The second zephyr blew and then she saw her unknown companion's partial-seen face turned to her. His striking lips inches from her face. Then _those enchanting lips parted, moved_ and spoke words that were inaudible. Akira couldn't hear his voice, nor couldn't understand what her lovely unknown companion was saying.

'…_What…?'_ she wanted her lips to move but still it couldn't.

'…_What is it you're telling me…?'_ she murmured in her thoughts.

"…_wake…up…" _the voice whispered, melodiously as the wind's breeze.

'Huh…?' she muttered in her thoughts, baffled. 'Wake up…?'

"Wake up," the voice was now more audible and recognizable. The voice was of someone else, not of her unknown companion, she was sure of it for she could recognize the voice. That particular voice was owned by someone else…

…_someone she knows_…

Her drowsy eyelids lifted and the dream was over in an instant, she was now backed in the real, boring, world of reality. The majestic grazing land was now gone and was altered by a modern travel-convenient atmosphere—inside the train.

Two old lovers sitting in front of her was the first thing that filled her sight and then there were the other passengers, the dark-blue seats and then the train's interior surroundings—the bit inclined surroundings, to be exact.

Her head, it was resting onto something, somebody, perhaps, because she could feel that the surface where her head was resting isn't something hard or rough…just like in her dream.

"Good. You're already awake," a familiar voice uttered. And upon hearing it, an odd molten hot feeling immediately flooded her face all the way up to her hairline. And had a considerable effect of stirring up her hazy-dull mind, instantly.

"Sorry, if I had to wake you up from your serene slumber," the voice kindly said.

Immediately, Akira apprehensively leaned her head off from where it was pleasurably resting.

She was on the train, on her way home from Genkai's temple, she then remembered. She was sitting beside the train window and next to her was the red-head, smiling at her. She was with him since Yukina proposed she should go back home first to her apartment house and rest because the caring ice apparition knew that she has classes tomorrow. And because of that, she had to go home with this red-head, and even needed to tell him the truth that she really doesn't stay in Genkai's place but just visits there during the weekends for her spiritual training and practice.

"Were almost near our destination, one more station and were already there—"

"Why didn't you shove my head off your arm as soon as I have conked out?!!" she rudely interrupted, looking fiercely at the red-head, not minding that her voice was quite loud.

"_Shove your head…?_" the red-head innocently repeated with his brows furrowed and his countenance puzzled.

A suppress growl escaped Akira's lips. Of course, what was she thinking; she was talking to Perfect Guy Shuichi Minamino (a.k.a. The Great Demon Actor Kurama), the guy who is so courteous and so chivalrous, he wouldn't even bear hearing you proposed such rude thing to do to a woman or even to a lame-silly girl.

Akira tapped her forehead and sighed, "Forget what I said_._ I just mean you shouldn't be too nice to everybody…or rather to every girl you meet."

"But why?" his tone was so innocent and naïve that it irritated Akira more.

Pressing her fingers on her temples, she grunted, "Well, because, if you'll always be nice to every girl you meet down the street…then…then all of them wouldn't help not to fall in love with you…And you'll end up populating this whole wide world with Red-Head die-hard lunatics! And that would be awful!"

His brows furrowed, his look confused.

"Hopeless," Akira softly grunted, rolling her eyes dramatically. '_How could a human who is a half-demon be as innocent as a little boy?'_ she confoundedly wanted to know.

* * *

As soon as they reached the train station, the red-head offered, chivalrously but stubbornly as always, to take her home. But Akira scowled, grimaced and grunted that she could take care of her own damned self. While the red-head inferred that she was quite drunk and was sleepy enough to stumble on her way home.

"I can take care of my damned self!" Akira said in mere exasperation, scowling at Kurama.

"Are you sure?" the red-head asked again for the hundredth time.

"_I am not drunk._ How many times do I have to tell you that! I know Genkai had asked you to keep an eye on me but I want to tell you **this,**_ I don't need a confounded __**baby-sitter!**_ I'm the one responsible for my own self. Yes, I'm a bit sleepy but I want to clarify this once and for all, **I am not drunk!** I can _walk perfectly straight_ on my way home without stumbling or falling!"

"_Okay_, then," Kurama nodded, but Akira could see in his eyes that he was still unconvinced.

"Goodbye." Akira quickly uttered and crudely turned her back. "And don't try to follow me or I might do something drastic," she whispered over her shoulders, aware that the red-head could still hear it.

And with that she left him in a half-ran stride. And walked vigilantly thorough her way home, on a half-run, half-staggering walk; and was quite relieved when she reached the apartment house without any sign of her unwanted baby-sitter following her.

Soon as she reached the apartment house, she saw old, caring Mrs. Satoo by the door looking worried, but the moment the old lady caught the sight of her, she smiled affectionately and waved.

Akira ran her way to the apartment house door.

"It's already ten. Where have you gone?" She asked sweetly in a motherly affection tone. "I was worried."

"From my friend's house," was Akira's answer. "I was late because I had a hard time convincing one of my friends to keep his wagging tail off me."

"Huh?" Mrs. Satoo uttered puzzled, an eyebrow raised.

"Forget it," Akira grinned, shaking her head. "Come on, Mrs. Satoo, let's go inside. It's quite a cold evening. You wouldn't want to catch a cold, would you?" She said and guided the old woman back inside the house.

"You already ate?" Mrs. Satoo kindly asked. "I'll cook."

"No, don't waste your time. I already ate," Akira answered and made her way to the stairs. "Goodnight then, Mrs. Satoo." She said with a smile and walked up the stairs slowly.

The instant she reached her room, she grabbed her pajamas from off the floor, took her bag of bathroom necessities and went to the bathroom. After a hot shower, she quickly donned on her pair of pastel-colored pajamas and swift her way back to the room.

Her room appeared the same as usual, old and gloomy. She threw herself down to her comforter, under the quilt, curling into a ball, concentrating to sleep but found she couldn't. It seems the hot bath had taken all the sleepiness off her in the drain. With Sandman nowhere to be found, it seems impossible for her to sleep.

After a few minutes, she sat up and irately pulled the comforter near the wall where the window was. And robustly pulled away the window's curtains at her side and pushed the window open. She grumpily sat back to her comforter and stared at the full moon balanced on the dark-indigo sky with the stars, silently meditating.

The dream, the dream she just had about that place and that unknown guy, was it just a nonsense dream or one of her other-self enigmatic-shown reveries. Ogling at the moon, with its pale-white color, she remembered the unknown guy in white-clothes and silver hair. The guy with the smell of morning dew and peppermint blend aroma. _Who is he?_ _A figment of her imagination…?_

…_Or an individual from her other-self past life…?_

Why couldn't she remember it? Why couldn't she remember anything that had happened in her other-self past life? What did really happen back then? Why did the air spirit inside her chose to dwell here in the Human World…to dwell in a human's body? Why did the air spirit have to do all of that…_in exchange for what?_

…_For nothing…?_

Well, honestly, that was a damned thing she couldn't accept. _There must be a reason for all of this._ For all the occurrences that had happened. There must be a reason, a cause, an aim, she doesn't know _but she needs to know._ Because that is the only purpose she has to continue with this boring life.

She sighed at her thoughts and pulled her thoughts back to the moon and its perfect-pale color. In silence, she hugged her knees and continued to gaze at the moon…'_the meadow, the dandelion seeds, the hand that caressed her cheek, the soft, warm arm her head rested onto, the unknown guy, his enthralling lips…his pleasant sweet morning dew aroma'…_

A stifled growled escaped from her lips and held her forehead. _How could a single, stupid dream be so enthralling and majestic that it can still affect you even in the real world?_

"…_Pathetic…"_ she murmured to herself in disgust and hardly slump her head on her knees. For a moment she remained still until another absurd thought entered in her mind. Quickly she raised her head and turned her gape on the white-clean long-sleeve shirt resting on the small study table near her.

She crawled near the study table and daintily grabbed the white-clean shirt, and slowly went back to her place.

'_Could it be possible? Could he and the unknown guy in my dream have the same smell?' _she thought, remembering that it was really the red-head's arm she was resting her head onto back in the real world as she was in Slumber-Land, dreaming of the unknown silver-haired hunk. She pondered as her fingertips gently caressed the white fabric.

_Kurama…Shuichi…_

She stared intently at the shirt.

_The Unknown Guy…_

She slowly moved her head down.

_The morning dew smell with a tinge of peppermint aroma…_

Her face a bit inches away from the shirt, inhaling the left scent of it.

_Could it be possible…?_

_**NO! THE HELL-STOP IT!!!**_ The thought roared in her mind and hastily leaned away from the shirt in her hands like it was some-kind of a tarantula. **How stupid she may look like doing that!** She felt a cringe of disgust in her whole body. _She was turning into some-hell of a silly girl by a magical, absurd dream. _She thought in disgust and harshly placed the white-shirt on the side of her pillow.

She tapped her head for a couple of times and stopped when it already hurt.

Akira growled and coarsely closed the window behind her, the irritation she felt about her sudden behavior not leaving her conscience. She threw the curtains back and tetchily laid her back at the comforter, pulled the quilt over her head, balling up on her side.

_What is happening to her? Is she getting crazy or what?!!_

Akira irritatingly pulled the pillow on her head and slouch it over her head. Or probably, it was just her pheromones functioning erratically.

* * *

Another typical, usual day as he calmly and apathetically strides his way through the school hallways toward his room, his hands on his pockets. Turning on the corner toward his classroom then, he caught a sight of three girls coming out from his classroom, giggling and chattering giddily.

Upon seeing him, the three girls stopped, blushed and bowed.

"Konnichiwa, sempai!" the three harmonized.

Freshmen, Kurama noticed.

He smiled at them.

The three then flashed him wide-cheesy grins and suggestive glances, he grew accustomed to with all the girls she met through the hallway. With a muffled giggle from one of the girls, nudging the other one, he overheard one of them whispered "Look, Akira was right…you saw him today…_face to face_. Told you she was great…"

With another blush from the girl in the middle and a grimace from the other, they left.

So the Great Akira had begun her free fortune-telling business for the day. Kurama thought and a crooked smile creep on his features.

Freshmen and sophomores had been habitually going in and out of there classroom before the first class, during recess and break time since the news had spread out that there was a foreign-exchange student who knows Palmistry and Tarot Card Reading in their class, and was staggeringly good at it.

Sinuously he opened the door and went inside the classroom. Several of his classmates were already there, talking, laughing and blabbering with each other, the usual scene and the usual thing—except of the small group of students surrounding a short blackish-brown haired girl sitting on her desk in a very unladylike manner.

She was laughing outrageously and was doing silly, ridiculous faces while blurting churlish words including her favorites 'confounded and damn' to the whole group chuckling klutzily at her jokes.

No other girl in the universe could do something like that—no, that was an underestimation. Let him rephrase that, _no other girl in the universe would even dare to do that._ She's eccentric and was even proud of it; doing things and thinking rather imagining things too bizarre in her own unique way and was proud of uttering it. She's totally different…Completely Unique.

Evenly he proceeded to his place, to the chair at the last row beside the room windows. Passing the girl rowdily sitting on the chair encircled by the group, he noticed out of the corner of his eyes how the girl quickly glanced at him in the same manner he did.

'On your chair,' her familiar voice entered his mind.

…Through telepathy.

He lightly nodded once and went to his desk. Pulling his chair gently then he saw a light-blue medium-size paper bag; a shirt, his long-sleeve white shirt folded and placed neatly inside it with a bare noticeable cloud-shape little-notepad on it.

He gently seized the cloud-shape notepad. Written on it were five quite scrawled katakana letters which read as…

_A-ri-ga-to-u 3 'Thank you 3'_

A light smile formed in the corner of his lips as he seized the medium-size paper bag by his other hand. He leisurely sat down on his chair, placing the paper bag at the side of his chair. And then averted his eyes back at the notepad again then to the girl sitting on her desk, two seats away from him.

Her katakana hand-writing was worse, substandard and was written illegibly that was what made him smile.

"What's that," a hand out of nowhere rudely grabbed the notepad from his hand.

Yuu Kaito, his friend, intently gawked at the notepad, scrutinizing the scrawled handwriting; adjusting his eyeglasses for a few times as if he was deciphering the hieroglyphics written on the Rosetta stone.

"Hard to decipher?" he frivolously asked to Kaito with a smile on his face, resting his chin on his hand, his elbow on the desk.

Kurama amusingly watched his friend nod.

"What's this, a 'thank you' letter from an elementary student?" Kaito glibly queried with a fond smirk plastered on his face, noticing the scrawl-looked written katakana. "I have no problems with you dazzling the whole woman population of this high school department...But come on, Shuichi, the elementary division—that's too much!"

Kurama shook his head lightly, not hiding the amused smile that was forming on his lips.

"Then from who?" Kaito demanded.

"From a high school student with a mind of an elementary student," was his frivolous answer, turning a simple gaze toward Akira's direction with a little smile on his face.

"Huh?" Kaito's forehead creased.

And out of the corner of his eyes, Kurama could see how Kaito curiously looked at him, to the notepad and then back at him.

"What does that mean?" Kaito inquired but this time came up with a theory, "A girl with dull wits?"

Kurama shook his head and averted his emerald eyes at his side. "No, she's smart, very smart but unfortunately very childlike—or rather, in my words, puerile or childish."

He smiled and turned back his gaze at Akira's direction, her back to him.

"Very childish, indeed…"

* * *

_*sempai- _the term used to refer to an upperclassman especially if they're considered a role model.

_*telepathy- _is a psychic capability of interacting or communicating another person using only the mind and thoughts.

* * *

**Update!!!**

Hope you liked it! It's one of my favorite chapters including Chapter 1, 4 and 5. Thanks for the reviews and by the way, I want to say hello to the new reader Aphrodite and nobody! (I've got nobody, nobody, but you *clap* *clap* *clap*)

Hello!

Please continue reading this story because I am very fond doing this novel. I'm very fond with my OC 'Akira', very childish and very odd but still very proud of her own self. Anyway I am also working on another fan fiction story, this time it's a Kuronue X OC one, titled 'A Vampire Pact'. My writing pattern in this one is a first person point of veiw 'I'. Hope you'll drop by on my profile and see it for yourself. Thanks a lot!!!

Please, pretty please, again, please, I'm begging you leave a review! I love it when I read reviews from different people…either a critic or praise. You just don't know how it deeply affects my writing! So please, please, and again, leave a review!

Arigatou 3

P.S. - I already made the logo of this fan-fiction story. If you want to see what Akira looks like and the air-spirit…see the logo and the characters of this fan fiction story… Visit the links on my profile...( If it doesn't appear, I had problem uploading it...so bear with me...please...) Thanks!

- fallen-sylph ^^

* * *

Trivia for this Chapter:

_*Youko_ is the true spelling of Kurama's demon name not Yoko. Yoko is a Japanese name for girls which means beautiful although it was the name used in the English Version of Yu Yu Hakusho. On the other hand, Youko literally means 'spirit fox' (look for it, in Wikipedia if you like ^^).


	8. The Supercilious and Heavenly

_**Chapter 7- 'The Supercilious and Heavenly'**_

"…_In the darkest and forgotten corner of the heart there it lies, the truth…quietly nestling, hoping and praying that someday it will be remembered…"_

……………

Grayish masses of mists…Cloud-like masses of smoke…It was all around her, wherever she turned her head around. She was anxious, fretful, tired and fatigue in a reason she couldn't fathom. It felt like she was in one of those terrifying nightmares where you have to run till you lungs break out, running from something unknown…from something you want to escape from.

Still gasping for breath, she turned her head around and found nothing except the same cloud-like substances but still the anxiousness didn't left her consciousness. Fretful and unsure though she continued to move her way through the endless callous crowds of eerie mists. When just then an inexplicable compelling force rushed through her veins and forced her to avert her eyes down. And there below her, she saw a red-tile roof, _a hundred of feet_ below her; raindrops plainly falling everywhere in the empty space separating her and the red-tile roof.

_Could it be that those grayish mists are clouds?_

And she was floating…_in mid-air_? Flying?

_What is this?!! What the hell is the meaning of this?_

………………

"Akira-chan!" a loud voice boomed in her head that almost made her jumped out of her seat; her chin that was resting serenely on her hand wobbled awkwardly away from it.

"Oops…did I disturb you?" was Kazumi's apologetic, worried remark. She was standing at her side with her usual amiable face and pleasant smile.

"Nope, just caught me off-guard," Akira frivolously said as she flippantly shook her head. "Should blame the coffee I think, I had a lot of cups last night."

"Oh my, drinking a lot of coffee is bad for your health Akira-chan!"

"Come on. It makes someone alert and anxious. It shouldn't be that bad."

Kazumi grimaced at her light answer and shook her head. "Well, anyway, forget about coffee, after class, I, Naomi, Ryuzaki, Yuki and Midori will go to Karaoke Box TM, want to join?"

"Sing at Karaoke Box TM…? Sure, why not."

"Then that's great! I would hear your lovely voice sing for the first time. My, we should get the biggest booth then! This would be a blast! We should also…" Kazumi continued her chattering, talking almost about everything that will happen later when they hang out at the Karaoke Box TM from the booths, to the drinks, to the enjoyment and fun. It was hard to interrupt her.

So Akira's mind began to wander again back to the dream she had last night that kept her awake till dawn and frustrated till this very moment. _The grayish mists/clouds, that unfathomable anxiousness she feels, the red-tile roof and the wide empty space that separated her from it._

She was _perched in the sky_. _She was flying_ in her dream.

To a simple human, the dream would mean nothing but utter nonsense and should be overlooked. But past experiences taught her that those cryptic and obscure dreams are the ones that held more profundity and significance than the ones that could be easily discern. This dream may mean something important regarding her other-self's past life. Or rather this is one of those indecipherable dreams that her other-self loved showing her in her sub consciousness.

She jadedly sighed and turned her head around, ogling at the empty chair that was two seats away from her. The first class was over and still he was nowhere to be seen. _Red-Head's absent just when she needed his big-brain the most to decrypt her stupid dream._ _Great timing Red-Head_! She grunted in her thoughts.

"Uhmm…Kazumi…" her lips moved and the words sounded more like a whisper, but good thing, Kazumi heard it and instantly halted her 'talk nineteen to the dozen' act.

"Yes?"

"Minamino-san?" it was a question but Kazumi didn't answer, her forehead creased and her pleasant face instantly turned into a curious look with a speck of contemptuousness.

"Minamino-san, have you seen him? Is he absent?" Akira queried again, this time elucidating and enunciating every syllable as if she was talking to a kindergarten student.

"Why'd you ask?" Kazumi swiftly asked back and quite surprised Akira with the coldness present in her voice.

"Uhmm…we have this special Biology research work that Mr. Takahashi asked us to do, it's about crossbreed organisms and will going to pass it next week. We planned doing the research today in the library but—"

"We can do the research together," Kazumi's sudden response broke her sentence off. "I have no meetings with the Student Council today. Forget about the plan we did earlier, we can cancel it and do your research."

Akira lightly shook her head with a smile.

"Trust me, I can do it! I can help you!" Kazumi insisted.

'_And trust me; you don't like to know what kind of __**crossbreed entities**__ I and Red-Head is delving our minds into. It's too unearthly, too inhumanly; you wouldn't bear. It's a classified matter that is out of your intellectual and spiritual capacity. It would freak you out. Especially the fact, that I and Red-Head are the crossbreed entities ourselves, half-human and half-inhuman. Red-Head, the half-human, half-demon one; While I as the half-human and half-celestial one. What would you say about that, huh?!!" _Akira wanted to say but imagining Kazumi's pleasant face turning to curiosity, then to shock and then to horror as she run away from her with the mere thought that she had lost her mind was unbearable.

"Uh… I think Kura—(_Shoot, I almost forgot his human name is Shuichi Minamino! Close one! *fact: honestly, the writer her own self almost typed the name Kurama*)_… I mean, Minamino-san will do it all alone. He's a walking encyclopedia; he doesn't need my puny little help to finish it, or impediment, in my part I should say. I bet he's already doing it right now maybe that's the reason why he's not here," Akira said instead.

"You're right. He's a bit haughty. He thinks he can do anything." Kazumi replied, bitterly. "He's always annoyingly too kind and too darn good at everything."

Akira felt her eyebrows puckered. Kazumi has something against Red-Head, she was sure of that now. She knew better than to ask Kazumi about it but mere curiosity always swallow her rationality.

"It seems Minamino-san irritates you for some reason," Akira commented blithely with a sheepish smile on her lips.

"He always gets the attention of the cute girls."

Kazumi's abrupt answer instantly shut Akira's mouth and the eyebrow that puckered in her countenance quickly altered to an uneasy smile.

Akira had to gulp at that.

"Oh…is that so…" Akira nervously giggled, secretly cursing her damned self for bringing up the certain topic.

'_Darn, should have shut my mouth!' _she cursed under her breath. Of all the things there is to talk about, she shouldn't have brought that one up; _Kazumi is a cute-girl liker so beware, she has her eyes on you_, Akira remembered what Ryuzaki had murmured to her once. And she just couldn't help not to think of that now, after what Kazumi had answered regarding her unknown annoyance to Red-Head. '…_My, curiosity can really kill a snoopy cat…'_

* * *

Hunched over his desk, the toddler Koenma blithely continued to stamp the papers present in his table without even paying a second to read it. How he hated this work, he thought, and heaven knows why he cursed it. The reason, simply because he was doing this job for the hundreds of years the he live and was stuck with it eternally. _Who says immortality is great, huh?!_

Koenma stopped and grunted when he overheard his faithful blue ogre's loud voice giddily babbling outside his office, disturbing his train of thoughts in the same process.

"How's everyone in the Human World! Oh really…? That's awesome! Yes…uh…yes…"

'Stupid blue ogre and stupid loud repulsive voice,' Koenma cursed under his breath, making a mental note to whack George's head later with his enormous white fan.

"Sir Koenma, yah, he's here!" he heard George said. And just then the egress of his office opened and came in a red-haired lad in his usual Chinese-style combat garb. Seeing him, didn't surprise him at all, the lad had been habitually going back and forth to the Spirit World, Human World and Demon World reporting and knowing things that had been occurring. And since, he really wasn't an average fellow he had his own right to do such thing because a part of him wasn't verily human but a kitsoune, a demon fox; the thousand-year-old 'Legendary Bandit' Youko Kurama to be precise with it.

And besides, he was his own version of an intellectual, all-around newsman, who keeps him informed and updated with all the events happening in the Human World and Demon World.

"Kurama," the toddler Koenma stood on his chair. "What brings you here? Is there something I need to know occurring in the Demon World, or the Human World?" he casually asked. "I hope it's not a bad one though."

"Need not to worry. Reporting to you isn't my motive today, Koenma," was Kurama's answer but still caught Koenma's curiosity.

"What is it then?" Koenma queried and motioned Kurama to come closer to his desk.

The red-haired gradually took his steps and stood a foot closer to his desk. "I'm here to post a question to you."

Koenma's eyebrows drew together.

"I believed you already know Genkai's new apprentice, right?"

"Yes, I met her. No, not actually met but saw her once. She's a very interesting one, a half-human, half-celestial entity—"

"A half-human, half-celestial," George gasped, butting in, "Is that even possible—?"

Koenma coldly glared at his faithful blue-ogre assistant which shut its chatty mouth instantly. "As I was saying," he turned his eyes back to Kurama, "I saw her. And I am in fact amused to see the possible existence of an entity like her. The girl's aura is very strong and her eyes, very different, she has that type of godly eyes, the one that can pierce through you and scrutinize you're whole being just by looking at you. Her eyes are kind of terrifying you know. Anyway, Genkai had once confide the girl's situation to me and asked me about the probable subsistence of such a half-breed entity like her. But I too, wasn't sure about it, except for the fact that her situation is quite similar to you. A half-ethereal, half-human breed."

Kurama lightly nod. "Agreed, our existence sure is confusing but still we exist and that's the chief point. However, I am not here to ask a question regarding the reason behind the possibility of our subsistence, I'm here to ask if you know anything about her half-ethereal kind."

"The air-spirits, you mean," the toddler Koenma sat back on his chair and rested her rounded chin on his hands. "I do know things about them and the celestial entities but only a few. My father and his other subordinates had told me stories about their existence and what their kinds are."

"How little the information is, will certainly help."

Koenma nodded, his face turning serious, "Okay, but let me get this straight, I'm going to tell you the things I know not because you're my friend but because you do help the Spirit World a lot by informing me with the current events that is occurring in the two other worlds. This information that I'm going to give you only serves a token of my gratitude."

Kurama nodded, poker-faced.

"Celestial beings are entities of the Celestial World or Heavenly Kingdom. In some reason, they kept their world away from the other worlds chiefly the Demon World and the Human World. Long ago, the Celestial World has this close affinity toward human beings but as time goes by and the humans began to be condescending and superstitious, they began to be aloof to them too. Since then, the Heavenly World lost its connection to us and to your world. But of course, you know how little they care about the demons, they loathe them actually."

"Of all the worlds, the Heavenly World is the greatest enigma that bothered a lot of entities including the human beings and us too. Father had once told me what they looked like, he describe them to me as something phantom-like, spirit-like akin to our deities but the thing they differ is the light that comes from them, a powerful, warm light. They wholly differ from all the entities of the other remaining worlds, their kinds are all divine, almost perfect, powerful and frighteningly authoritative… Frantically speaking, their powerful gods can destroy the Human World in a just snap; they have the eternal power to create and destroy."

"Next to this gods, are their celestial minions, who have inherited some of the abilities of the major gods; they are also described as the divine protectors of the human kind. An air spirit is a minion, a subsidiary of the Chief God of the Wind and Air Shina-Tsu-Hiko. They are classified as elemental spirits. If the Demon World has entities called Elemental Demons so as the Celestial World. Like the Elemental Demons, the Elemental Spirits has the ability to manipulate and control the certain element they are associated with. Although they're a part of the Celestial World, these Elemental Spirits are very similar to the humans. And they possess some human-like emotions and feelings, and this emotion can grow stronger once they become too infatuated to a certain thing. The only thing they differ is that they don't have a corporeal body and they can never have one unlike the Elemental Demons. I have read once that when these Elemental Spirits do die, they immaterialized and become a tad of the element they are associated with. But their life span can last for thousands of years like the demons."

"…But of all the Elemental Spirits, the air spirits are rarely to be seen. However some depicted that they look like humans resembling the beauty of a porcelain angelic-face doll—with some exceptions. Sprouting from their backs is a pair of huge feathered wings…similar to the spiritual entities that the humans called the angels."

'A fact' Kurama agreed in his thought. The information detailed embedded on his mind.

"…and also, the color of their eyes is very atypical, pure ivory-white, bearing the fact that they are indeed celestial beings and that they can see things and know things that humans can't. They can read intentions, know the past, present and the future. They rarely associate with others, but once they do, they form a bond that could last a lifetime…"

'…_A bond that can last a lifetime…'_ Koenma's words repeated on his head. Celestial entities that have human-like emotions, and can create bonds that can last a lifetime, how could that be possible, he wanted to know. If indeed, the air-spirits are likely similar to humans and their emotions then there's a chance that the reason behind Akira's past life has something to do with it.

Emotions are very powerful, similarly authoritative to the gods. Emotions could do anything, everything, it can do the most impossible things down to the most stupid things. It's a fact, _a proven fact._

"That's all I know," Koenma uttered, cutting his chain of thoughts. "As I said, the Celestial World had lost its connection to the other worlds including to us, making us in-charge of protecting the humans from demons. How ironically it is, that they are the ones who created these humans but gave up on protecting them. So much for them being the highest kind… so much for them being supercilious, powerful and all that authoritative."

Koenma's tone was grim somehow sarcastic too that it made Kurama stifled a little to avoid his self from smiling sheepishly. The toddler hate working a lot, he hates the huge responsibility he bears being next to King Enma's throne, no doubt.

"Thanks," Kurama muttered.

Koenma nodded, acknowledging his gratefulness.

* * *

After telling stories occurring to the Human World and to the Demon World chiefly about Yusuke's adventures to Koenma (as well as George), he left. Actually it was George who was more enthusiastic about the stories; he was the one who was reacting, gasping and excited. Koenma was mostly annoyed by George's exaggerated reactions most of the time.

"Drop again the next time, Kurama. Bye!" was George's final remark when he left Koenma's office. And out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Koenma's face turn to a contemptuous look, getting ready to start on George with the white fan in his hand that appeared out of thin air.

Poor old, giddy George, he thought. Another bump on his head will add on his records of injuries today.

"Kurama…!" Turning to a corner, a voice called his attention.

"Kurama!!!" he turned his head around as the voice called again.

And on the farthest part of the hallway, a form emerged. Gifted with keen eyes, Kurama beheld the form instantly. It was of a girl, a sky-blue-haired girl wearing a pink kimono. It was the cheerful shinigami, Botan.

"What's up?!!" the deity broke her perky trot, a foot away from him. "Any news about the others…? How are Yusuke and the others?"

"Still the same," Kurama answered, nonchalantly, continuing his pace, with Botan's beside him now. "The guy hadn't change a bit."

"Oh! Still the same arrogant, impulsive fool," Botan laughed, "How about the others?"

"Kuwabara's studying hard for the upcoming quarterly exams. He told me Shizuru was busy with her new-found job. And that Keiko had already transferred to another school, in an all-girls academy. Yukina is still in Genkai's place. Genkai on the other hand, _obtained a new apprentice."_

"A new apprentice…?" Botan repeated, curiously, looking at him.

"Yes. And she's very much like Yusuke," Kurama answered with a little smile smearing on his face, "dreadfully impulsive and out rightly careless."

"A girl like Yusuke?!!" the deity guffawed. "Really…? Something tells me, I should go and visit Human World as soon as possible to meet this girl."

You really should, it's just once in a million years that someone like her and Yusuke is being born, Kurama wittily thought, furtively making fun of Yusuke and Akira's likeness in his mind.

"How about you," Botan's asked out of the blue, staring at him with her head cocked a bit, "What's new about you, Kurama?"

"Helping Genkai's new apprentice," was his monotonous answer.

"Helping her? With what, the training?" the deity snoopily asked. "Don't tell me your Genkai's new secretary now, Kurama," she added, teasing weakly.

"Well, actually, Genkai asked me to," he answered. "You see, this new apprentice of Genkai is somehow different. She's a human/air spirit hybrid. Since her odd situation is somehow akin to mine except to the matter, that I'm a half-demon, Genkai thought I can help. It's a favor I just couldn't say no to, recalling the fact that Genkai had helped me train Chu, Jin, Touya and the other guys during the Makai Tournament."

"Oh," was Botan's only reaction, her countenance surprise with a glint of curiosity about the incomprehensible situation of Akira and her arcane existence. Seriously, he should be used to the reaction now, but something in him tells that Akira's odd subsistence is a great deal confusing for the Spirit World entities rather than his.

"That's the same reason why I dropped by to see if Koenma could somehow help," Kurama added. "I was presuming that Koenma knows something about these Celestial entities."

"The enigmas, you mean," Botan murmured as soft as a breeze could be.

Koenma was right, about the Celestial Entities being all that mysterious and cryptic to the other entities. How he wondered, if any elderly demons in the Demon World knows anything about these secretive entities. He should pay them a visit then.

"You like this girl, don't you, Kurama?" Botan's startling question pulled him back to reality, halting his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" his answer, was another question itself.

"Well, you must really like her. You wouldn't come all the way here to ask Koenma directly if she's not that special to you. You only do that when there is something grave happening to the Human World or if it's really something important," Botan elucidate. "She must really be a good friend to you like Hiei and Yusuke."

Kurama lightly nodded, "Yes. She is special. I never met any individual as unpredictable as her, in my entire life span probably. She's much more impulsive than Yusuke, much more mercurial than any other individual I have known of."

Botan smirked, "Geez, the way you describe her to me makes me want to know more about her! She seems to be a very interesting one. I never met someone so unpredictable and carefree since I met Yusuke. I should talk to Koenma about dropping to the Human World next week. I bet we'll be good friends. I just hope she doesn't have Yusuke's bad temper though."

"Don't worry, she don't…except for a couple of blasphemies she knows and say though," Kurama smiled. "Profanities I bet she learned from Genkai."

Botan laughed at that. "That's the good part of being Genkai's apprentice. You only don't learn how to be spiritually powerful but also to be verbosely powerful," she chuckled again and stopped her stride. "Well, anyway, nice talking to you, Kurama. The other deities are waiting for me. I think I've got to go now. A thousand-year-old deity has a lot of responsibilities to do in a place ruled by a two-year-old looking man."

"Bye!" the deity said and left him, waving her hand as she cheerfully run away from him.

Kurama waved back once and when the deity was out of his sight; he turned on his heel and continued with his stride, putting her hands back to his pockets.

'_You like this girl, don't you, Kurama?_' He was conscious of Botan's words rather question repeating on his mind. _'Well, you must really like her. You wouldn't come all the way here to ask Koenma directly if she's not that special to you.'_

'_Yes. She is special. I never met any individual as unpredictable as her, in my entire life span probably. She's much more impulsive than Yusuke, much more mercurial than any other individual I have known of," _was his answer.

In a way, his answer baffled him, did he really answered Botan's question, or did he answered why Akira was special…well, literally special…but not exactly the same thing as _'someone special to him.'_

_Akira is special._ She's a half-celestial, half-human entity, a peculiar hybrid. She has a strong aura, a powerful one even the Prince of Reikai agreed with it. But then again, she's also the girl who seems to be so different in every way… in everything she does… someone who cannot be exactly duplicated nor be mimicked in anyway. She's simply one of a kind.

Sequences of pictures formed in his mind; from the boyish-looking girl with the red cap who saved the little boy on the street with a pair of feathered-white wings on her back with those mysterious, unreadable dark-brown eyes, to the same boyish-looking girl standing in front of his class, the same boyish-girl who appeared out of the blue to stop his enemy from attacking him, the same boyish-girl who bumped him hardly on Genkai's place and proclaimed that she's Genkai's apprentice, to the same boyish-girl who he helps now…

It was all so unpredictable. Neither a great fortune teller can predict what might happen next and what will she do next. He's sure even an analytical master would be in great bafflement with Akira's logical concepts, abstract or not. She's a fascinating little thing, an intriguing little thing, and yes, _he was somehow fond of her ways…but she being special to him was another thing, another thing he just couldn't simply answer…by…now…_


	9. An Edge

_**Chapter 8- 'An Edge'**_

"…_The little promises, the sweet oaths…though time and space had dulled all these memories…the heart will still be able to remember it…in an unknown magical way that neither the lover can explain…"_

"Hmph," Akira grunted, glaring at her foot tapping the perfect-white floorboards of the train station; her arms crossed, her brows furrowing in annoyance. She was sitting in one of the station benches, impatiently waiting for Red-Head to arrive. He was going with her today to Genkai's temple.

The guy found a way that could help them decipher and know the obscured identity of her ethereal spirit through a magical concoction that will be brought by his demon friends today to Genkai's place. The said concoction was a potion that was made from what he referred to as the Fruit of the Past Life from Spirit World, this thing will be able to sent her back to her pre-human state…or in a much worse term, will be able to transform her back to her previous self, to the air-spirit. And on this faithful day, they're going to try the confounded thing.

For her the thought of it was impossible of course. Come on, she transforming back to an air-spirit, the idea was such a joke! It was utterly impossible!—but Red-Head proclaimed, again, as the all-around guy who knows everything, that it was possible. That the potion _is_ bona fide and effective—Red-Head even claimed, he had used it himself and it worked.

Well for someone like him, maybe… but for _her_, _will it work?_

The idea is indeed actually very frightening. And the possibility of it caught her off-guard as well. Who would have thought a stupid, otherworldly potion that could transform you back to your past life entity, exist? _Red-Head alone could—_like Kazumi had said, he was the guy who can seem to do anything and was too darn good at everything.

Except for one…_being damned punctual._

Her eyes glared at her blue Swatch. It was already eight-thirty. H_e's too damned late._

'_Where the hell is that guy?'_ she grunted in her thoughts, fuming; mentally reminding herself to bombard the guy with acidic and not to mention, rueful words, later when he arrives. _She'll make certain of that._

Didn't she ever mention that _impatience_ beside _blessed curiosity_ is one of her damned innate virtues? And_ it_ being unbearable most of the time doesn't help that fact either.

And now _it _was turning into utter ire.

With her doing nothing and the second ticking by, double thoughts and unwanted doubts regarding today's activity started to form a roll of list in her mind and were pushing her over the edge. All night, she was evading all those uncertain thoughts; afraid that it might cause her back-pedaling. But now, with her doing nothing, thinking of nothing, it was plainly unavoidable.

'_This is too risky… you know one of the possible outcomes, namely, losing your own consciousness. Genkai told you that,' _the other side of her sternly exulted with her decision—the coward side of her to be precise.

"_That was just nothing but a baseless theory, a premise. So stop being utterly absurd and unhelpfully paranoid," _she shot back. Of course, she knows the risks mainly that one. But something strong inside her urges her to do this. There are the risks but think about the possible things she may discover after this. She may finally know her whole self…_finish this sort-of soul searching bustle._ It's worth the risks, worth the danger. As the famous saying states, _'No guts, No glory.' _

_No double doubt would stop her from doing this._

'_But you're scared stiff.'_

"_No, I'm not!" Grr…_stupid, coward side of her! She should be cheering for her decision and all rather than irritating her, telling absurdity and f_rightening_ her to death with it. _"I'm not scared! And stop pestering my head! It's my decision! No one's gonna stop me, not even you and your absurd, baseless threats! So the hell, stop it!"_

'_Impulsiveness is next to absurdity.'_

She felt her teeth mashed together with an audible grinding sound at that. Her hands were balling up into fists, her whole frame shaking.

"Stop. It." She murmured under her breath, trying to control her nerves.

'_And your impulsiveness is certainly a product of utter absurdity."_

_Pak! That_ had pushed her over the edge.

"That's it! Get away! Leave me alone!" She growled—actually, nearly shouted. Her voice was loud enough for her own thoughts and was quite loud enough for anyone near her to plainly hear it.

"Oops," a velvety voice spoke, warily, "Am I _that_ too late to annoy you _that_ much?"

Her eyes quickly flickered up and there he saw him standing in front of her, a couple of steps away from her. He was wearing an orange jacket with a plain shirt underneath it, a pair of dark blue jeans and sneakers. (Note: it was the same clothing he wear when he was finding the psychic core with Botan, Kuwabara and Kaito during the Sensui Seven Arc) It took her by surprise, it was the _first time _she actually saw him wear something _casual not that refined, _as what she was accustomed seeing him wear. It was_ laid-back_ as if he's just going somewhere and hang-out with his male friends in the mall. Though she must admit, he was still an eye-catcher in it. She could easily notice how the eyes of the young women and not-so-young-women quickly flicker to his direction. It would be stupid of her to deny that he was attractive. Because he was! With that perfect carved delicate face and that enchanting emerald eyes of him. And that long-crimson locks of his which she bet is much smoother than her own cropped short hair. He's darn beautiful, and actually, much, more, prettier than her. And the fact that he's a _guy_ makes it worse too.

It's hard to believe that this guy here is a half-demon—a demon who is always depicted and portrayed as entities with gargoyle and golem-like repulsive appearance known for their vileness and decadence. Yet here he stands in front of her possessing the delicate, angelic features of an angel. It's _seems_ so ironic…………………………?????????

_Hey, Wait a minute!_

_What that hell was that???!!!!!!!_

_Ugh! What the hell are those thoughts about?!!! Did she just romanticize the fellow? View him through the rose-tinted glasses?! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!—_A feeling of disgust suddenly course through her whole body at the thought of it._ Ugh! Ugh! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!_

"That _statement_ is not for you," she quickly snapped as she recovered herself; jumping off her seat, crossing her arms. Instinctively, her eyes averted from his pulchritudinous face, avoiding it. She doesn't have an idea how long she have stared at that face like an imbecile, but she'll make sure that will never happen again.

"Then for wh—"

"For no one special, that is _none_ of your business," she retorted, cutting him off, petulance not living her tone. "Don't try to distract me. You're damned late and nothing's gonna change that. Why don't you try to start making your amends now, Mister, huh? I know your helping me with my own personal problem here and you don't know how grateful I am with that. But making me wait here like I'm some kind of a dupe is_ so_ not_ nice_. I had a devil of a time waiting here! I waited here for almost…almost—" her sentence trailed off as she glanced back to her watch, calculating the time that had passed.

"Thirty three minutes," the Red-Head finished off her sentence before she could even open her mouth.

"Yes, thirty-three minutes," she grunted, scowling at him, "Thirty-three minutes…_and twenty seven seconds all put to waste. Not_ problem to _you_ at all. But I treat time more luxurious _than_ gold."

Red-Head's lips twitched at her sarcastic tone, a crooked smile playing around the edges of his lips.

Her eyes narrowed at that, her lips quivered—trying to find words that could put him to death in guilt for making her wait. Or, at the very least, make him feel ashamed of himself. She was a woman and a man should never ever make a woman wait. It was a code of courteousness any gentlemen knew! She bet even Heathcliff and Mr. Darcy knew that! But she mentioning _that_ to him seems to be _not _a very good idea. It would just make him laugh, that she was certain of. And she wouldn't let such chagrin to happen."

So down went to option two; fixed her glare fiercely at him, let alone the heat of her anger physically burn him… but the devil seemed to be more amused by it. _It was annoying!_ _Completely annoying!_

She was ready to spat a rude word at him now, the acidic taste rich in her mouth, when just then she happened to notice the guy standing still behind Red-Head. Naturally, her eyes flicked passed through Red-Head toward the unknown guy, scrutinizing him.

She felt her one of her eyebrows lifted, her questioning gaze darting back to Red-Head, giving him a 'who-the-hell-is-this-one' look.

A little smile smeared to Red-Head's countenance as he took a light step back, giving him the chance to freely appraise the unknown guy—his companion, now she was certain of that. The guy has black curly hair, narrow eyes and thick eyeglasses—freckles smeared on his cheeks too. He was as tall as Red-Head but not as good-looking as the first one. He was just a plain-looking one and his features even became plainer because he was next to Red-Head with features ascetically designed to melt any sappy girl's heart. _Damn the fox!—literally._

After her jiffy scrutiny, concluding that the guy was no one familiar to her, her curious gaze flickered back to Red-Head.

She doesn't know why but a tinge of confusion shot through his features in a second. And with a little smile on his face he lightly shook his head before turning his attention back to her, "Perhaps you are not yet acquainted with him."

She nodded stupidly.

"Akira, Yuu Kaito—Kaito, Akira," he introduced him to her and vice-versa, gesturing casually with his hand, the little smile on his face turning to a wry one, he then added, "He's our classmate, Akira."

Classmate…? Oh, yes, Yuu-san, one of the Meio prodigies, she thought and remembered (so stupid of her not to notice.) He was one of the proud whiz kids of Meio Private Academy; a remarkable student with a broad knowledge in Literature and lame-old History; classified as one of those rare students who would loved to stay in the library all day long rather than to go home—or in her own short words, a full-blooded nerd.

But anyway, _'what the hell was this Kaito doing here?' _was the thing she wanted to know, so she turned on a meaningful glance to Red-Head. But the guy seemed to be oblivious to it.

"Hi, Yuu-san," she reluctantly turned to the dark-haired guy, trying her best to be polite as possible while internally fighting the (her) impulse to ask him directly and rudely regarding his presence today. "Nice meeting you."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Akira—personally," the guy smiled. His dark narrow eyes were unreadable but the smile on his face was friendly enough to her—plain. "I've heard so much about you and er—" he gave a quick glance to Red-Head before turning back to her, "about your uncanny situation as well…from Shuichi."

That caught her off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm here to help you, Akira-san," the nerd black-haired continued. "Shuichi suddenly called me last night and discussed the matter with me. He picked me up from my house this morning that's why he's late. Didn't he mention that to you?"

She nodded at him with one stiff nod.

Well, that _one_ was _clear_—clearly enough to get on her nerves. What was Red-Head up to? Seeking help from a plain human, discussing her peculiar existence to him—which is, of course, considered as a classified 'otherworldly' information meant to be kept from any plain human—including this _nerd_. _What the hell have he done? Have he completely lost his mind?!!_

She felt her teeth clenched together with an audible snap. Rage pulsed through her whole self in half a second; anger turned to fierce glare flashing toward Red-Head's innocent pretense, "No. He _failed_ to mention _that _to_ me._" She said, voice sharper, her eyes tightening. _"But I'll be happy to hear about it."_

Kaito muffled a nervous chuckle, his anxious eyes darting back and forth between her and Red-Head—probably, feeling the physical tension upcoming in the air. And that tension will worsen, if Red-Head _would not_ open his mouth now and explain. She'll make sure of that.

"Kaito also became one of Genkai's apprentices, Akira," the Red-Head began, starting to clarify the details at once.

Kaito gradually relaxed his tense posture with a relief sigh.

"His gifted with a strong spiritual awareness and an uncanny ability as well of _manifesting territories_, or the guys whose abilities are like his prefer to call it," Red-Head continued. "His specifically is the Power of Taboo. He can create his own-like dimension within a ten meter radius or so. Within that boundary, he can declare rules of his own that any individual trapped in it are forced to follow or else it'll cost their soul. He can manipulate things in his own territory, either, voiding anything he doesn't prefer in addition to that."

"His gift will help us to control you Akira. It will act as a force-field to void your energy if it gets too riotous," he continued, tone becoming serious, the smile on his face fading. "When the potion takes effect, you'll certainly lose control of your energy. It will rouse all the energy and strength slumbering inside you, not to mention, the immense energy your ethereal side may have. After that the next set of occurrences will be unpredictable for us. Aside from one of the hypotheses Genkai assumed which I know you are plainly aware of. That's the _one _we'll be _preventing _to_ happen._"

"Mainly a _precaution_, Akira."

A sudden cringe course through her stomach—not a product of fear or anything—but the product of a certain edge in his voice as he spoke the word 'precaution.' The statement was indeed ominous. But odd as it may sound, she doesn't care about it. The one that caught her attention was the edge that crept into his voice; into his tone…it was not ominous…far more than threatening…it was something else…

'_Passengers, the next train will arrive at exactly five minutes. Please get your tickets and be ready.' A_ well-accented woman voice speaking through the station speakers pulled her out of her thoughts.

'_The next train will arrive at exactly five minutes. Please get your tickets and be ready.'_ The voice repeated, informing the passengers about the forthcoming train.

Akira quickly turned her eyes back to Kurama, having the urge to ask him about the sudden idiosyncrasy in his voice but the devil he had suddenly turned his back and pronounced 'Let's go', strolling off with his wagging-tail friend Kaito following him—leaving her behind.

She remained still, staring curiously at him. The edge of his voice that she noticed…? What was that? _A caused of late puberty…? A sudden lump on his throat…?_ _A male hormone effect…?_ _Or was she just imagining things, inanely observing the littlest things too much…?_

She shook the inane thoughts off her head. _Whatever it was, let Hades himself take care of it!_

"Hey, you two, wait up!" she shouted, seeing the two guys continued their pace without her. "Wait up!" she stammered to her feet and run off.

"Wow, the place didn't change at all," Kaito remarked, his amused gaze straight toward the temple's colossal gate lying still on top of the massive granite staircase. "Do Genkai really enjoy living here? It seems so…remote."

* * *

The travel going to Genkai's place just took an hour or so. In fact the travel was quite fast than the usual and went threateningly smooth too. Akira remained quiet the whole time, glaring intently outside the train with furrowed brows. It was actually odd. She always seemed so boisterous anytime, anywhere. Though he suspected she was saving herself for later and for the meantime, giving them a silent treatment (especially him).

She's mad at him, it's written all over her face. She's mad at him probably because he didn't mention anything regarding Kaito and his own choice of asking the guy for help _without_ considering her opinion first. Such corresponding response must be a defining characteristic of the X chromosomes—women mostly have that certain reaction to such issue.

—But one way or another, he wouldn't get away with it _that_ easily. Knowing Akira and her temper, it was just a matter of time—and not much of it either—before she starts to chide him to death. She's just probably waiting for the right time.

His eyes instinctively rolled at Akira, observing her out of the corner of his eyes. Her eyebrows were still furrowed; her arms remained crossed over her chest while her lips were pushed out in a pout—_just like a typical grumpy kid._

Out of the blue, Akira rolled her eyes at him and instantly noticed his scrutiny. An immediate frown shot across her face and with an angry humph coldly snubbed him, sauntering off to the stairs—apparently as expected.

"What's with her?" Kaito queried as Akira started ascending the stairs.

"Nothing, just nothing," he answered, a hint of humor playing in the tone of his voice, "Probably just an upshot of the X chromosomes working overtime."

"Eh?" Kaito forehead creased, confused.

"A female thing," he joked with a fond smile, turning on his heel, following Akira.

He and Kaito was about to reach the mid stair when Akira, already on the mid part of the stairs, stagger to a halt. Her gaze fixed toward the colossal gate ahead of them. It took him a second to see the cause of her sudden standstill as the bright sun momentarily blinded him as he turned his gaze toward the gate. But as soon as the bright yellow ray of the sun shifted, he finally saw it, two forms standing on top of the massive granite staircase.

As his eyes adjusted from the sudden ray of sunlight, he beheld the two forms clearly; a poker-faced blond one and a red-head. The red-head was vigorously waving his arm over his head, a grin stretched wide across his face. Jin. He was smiling so big it looked like it would hurt his cheeks. Next to him was Suzuka, standing still, his arms crossed, his face serious, trifled cocky as usual with a pint of edginess.

"They're my friends," he whispered to Akira the moment he was behind her.

Her dark-brown eyes were still on the two individual waiting ahead of them, her face mixed with emotions of anxiousness, confusion and irritation. And then she turned sharply on him, "Can I talk to you for a meantime." And then with a fleeting look at Kaito, she added, "_Alone."_

Kurama nodded a single nod, positively aware of the reason behind Akira's action.

And without any further gesture, Akira grabbed a fistful of his jacket in one hand and roughly yanked him a couple of feet afar from Kaito.

"What the _hell_ are you thinking?" she murmured, keeping her voice even though a dominant tone of petulant was present.

"Particularly about what?" he queried back, nonchalantly—_that_ irritated her more.

"About _them_," she hissed, scowling, pointing toward the temple's gate, "About choosing these people to help me with my problem, to help us know the obscurity regarding the existence of the air-spirit inside me."

"Kaito's doubts me and the things you told him about me. He still doesn't believe in it—_completely_—that's why he's here to see it for himself. And _that_ _red-head one _over there, he's seems to be so _careless_. He doesn't care about anything at all. While _the blond one_ cares only about his self. He's _narcissistic_ beyond words! Far more than you know. He's an egocentric stud."

_For once, _he was speechless. She does have a brilliant mind, to end up concluding such things.

Appraising words have never astonished him even once in his human life. Humans are judgmental, always having their own shades of opinions regarding everything there is under the sun—though most of the time they're wrong. He's aware of that thing. It's an apparent fact.

But when it comes to Akira…again, it's different…accurate. Truthfully, Kaito doubts are easier to explain. He's a human, speculative in nature. But Akira's own insightful view about the other two which is frighteningly true is another different thing to explain, a harder one. She had merely seen Jin and Suzuka—and had never spoke to them yet—but still her assessment regarding their attitude hit the truth. It was sort of remarkable.

"And what makes you conclude that?" he queried quite curious.

Akira growled, giving him an incredulous look. "Look, it's natural for me to know. Enough said."

"Elucidate," he demanded blasé but quite obstinate.

She made the same grumpy growling sound again but gave up with a resigned sigh. "It's natural for me to know these things. I assessed them by their appearances…_glimpse at their thoughts_. One of those two guys over there seems to be here only to prove something…probably the effectiveness of the potion itself…if he made it—I'm not sure. And then the other one, the red-head, he just wants to see you, or maybe, see my capability too. He's all jumpy about it. And Kaito…grr…" she rolled her eyes dramatically. "You don't know what kind of irritating thoughts he has about me. He's thinks I'm diabolic—satanic with a pint of voodoo. I hate to look at his face and know the thoughts circling around that cynic mind of his. It irritates me to death. He's lucky I didn't punch him or what!"

"_Thoughts?"_ he repeated the word, he just heard from her mouth. "You can read thoughts?"

Akira shook her head vigorously. "No, _not exactly read their precise _thoughts_._ Who do you think I am, Wonder Woman? That's_ impossible, way out of reality,"_ she winced at her last words, probably doubting the word to even exist after the things she saw, considering her own situation as well. "I can only know the things going on in a human's mind when I look straight to his face, a fleeting look would work too…similar to face reading but much more profound…and kind of accurate. _Or maybe_ it's just plain face reading with my descriptions getting way out. Sometimes it's cool but most of the time it's plainly annoying."

'_They can read intentions, know the past, present and the future.' _Koenma words repeated on his head. Koenma did mention the thing when he told him some of the air-spirits abilities. So it_ was _really_ true._

"Then it means you can read mine too?" he asked, truly curious about the possibility.

Akira made a face and answered him in a mocking tone, "No, I _can't_ and no, I _don't_ want to. It's hard to read your face, you know—and no doubt, your mind as well. You have a one-hell-of-a-talent oppressing your expressions. But I bet you're the type of person, who loves to keep his thoughts only to himself. Keep their opinions inside them unless their needed to be said. You're a very secretive person…maybe far more than you know—an inborn irritating obscurest!"

"I will just gain a _headache_ rummaging through your _humongous_ brain," she snorted, adding.

His lips twitched at that. Even irritated, Akira _can_ still be remarkably amusing.

"It's a gift Akira." He remarked to her with a smile.

Akira grimaced.

"I'm acquainted with these guys, I know their abilities, the things they can do and the things they are capable of. I know where all these anxieties of yours are coming from. It was dense of me to remind you of the dire outcome earlier in the station so forgive me," he said, smiling apologetically. "But these qualms are wholly unnecessary, Akira. I assure you, you're not going to lose yourself. All you have to do is to _trust_ them. _Trust_ me."

"You make that sound so easy," she sardonically mused out, frowning.

Kurama smiled at her and she sarcastically smiled back.

Just then a call echoed in the distance. "Kurama, hey!" someone shouted his voice thick with an Irish-like accent.

He and Akira quickly shifted their head at the precise direction—to Jin. "Kurama, chum!" he called again, waving his hand and enthusiastically leaned into a half-crouch, as a light blue aura started to stir around him—probably in unison with the unseen wind. In a second, his body started to levitate and with a wide grin plastered on his face, flew in demon speed darting toward them.

"The hell," he heard Akira muttered under her breath, obviously flabbergasted.

"He's Jin," he whispered at her, rolling his eyes at the stunned Akira, "the Wind Master of the Spirit World Shinobis. Needless to say, he can control the wind—you probably already figured out."

A sudden strong wind whipped against his face as Jin halted to a sudden stop in front of them, his feet still floating on mid-air. "How d'yea pal, long time no see, man," he said, smiling, his words pouring out so quickly. "I thought yea' and th's little fella here are fighting, wanted t' stop both of yea'," he chuckled, his eyes flickering a momentary look at Akira's startled face. "Up there, it looked like _he_ wanted t' kill yea, man—"

"Looks _could_ kill," Akira said, cutting Jin's swift words—implying subjectively to the singular form of the word 'looks' which is _look_, in the sentence. Her voice was snappish again, though he could notice how her eyes ogle intently at Jin's fluffy red-hair—probably to the little horn that poked out from it—and the look it caused to her face. "And I'm not a _He_," she continued in saccharine tones, raising her eyebrow. "You should try visiting the optometrist, you know. You have a serious problem with your eyes, _man_."

Jin ogled closely at her, blinked, and then laughed, "Yea' too cool for a girl," he remarked. "I'm Jin, a shinobi—nice t' meet yea!"

"Hasegawa Akira," she introduced herself, a crooked smile appearing on her face, "an uncanny hybrid meant to _confound_ all the living organisms here on Earth—and on the other worlds as well…including _you_—a half-celestial, half-human entity to be precise with it."

"Nice to meet you too, Jin the wind-controlling _flying _freak," she joked. And with her chin, gestured to Jin's feet perched several inches above the floor. "You wouldn't mind getting on your feet so we can make this acquaintance more formal, right?

"No sweat," Jin answered, dropping down the ground with a soft wind whoosh.

Akira held out her hand and Jin took it—both shaking their hands rather more enthusiastically than courtesy demanded while grinning at each other—it looks more like they were old friends seeing each other after a long period of time.

The other minute, she's suspicious of Jin; the next, there were already like the best of friends.

Impressively _erratic_…

Seems like the wind has a magical connection to all the individuals innate having the same element…Or was it just because Akira resembles Yusuke, while Jin was likely similar to Yusuke and that Jin understands the quirky correlation between the first two…?

The convoluted sentence got him smiling. Well, one thing he knows, _it takes one to know one_, right…?

* * *

Akira lifted the glass bottle to her face, unwillingly; the blood-red liquid concoction sloshed, the Fruit of the Past Life bobbing inside. Entertainingly, he watched her sniffed the unknown mixture. And as expected, she flinched from it, and then made a face.

There were already trying the concoction with Genkai's permit and guidance. Kaito was standing beside him, prepared to unleash his gift of manifesting-dimensions at his sign. While Jin was at his other side, grinning at Akira's every disgusted expressions. Genkai was standing a few steps behind them, her arms crossed, her eyes zeroed on Akira. Yukina was beside her, anxious, her frail hands slightly quivering on her chest. Suzuka was near at them, standing with the same smug look, bored; his hands clasped on his waist.

"It smells…ewe—revolting…" Akira remarked, wrinkling her nose. Then her dark-brown eyes flickered to him, "How did you stand drinking this crap? By plugging your nose…?"

The edge of his lips twitched, fighting a smile. Suzuka rolled his eyes. Jin chuckled.

"Kurama must have a strong stomach," Jin smiled sheepishly, "Want me t' help yea' plug yea'r nose?"

Akira shook her head, grimacing, "Bet it wouldn't help in any way."

Genkai cleared her throat. Suzuka snorted.

"Enough with your aversions; drink it whether you like or not," Genkai sternly ordered the same time that Suzuka snapped, "If you don't like it, I'll take it back."

"Fine, I'll drink the stupid poison—I mean, potion. _No_ need to tag-team, okay?" she answered back, obviously mocking.

Akira gulped. "If I die—drinking this poison, potion—only Yukina will have the rights to gain my stuffs," she murmured as she reluctantly lifted the bottle back to her face. Already stiffened and ready, she took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and wrinkled her nose. He could hear the fluid concoction slopping around in the bottle again as her hand shook. Startlingly then, in a quite vigorous manner, she shoved the glass bottle to her mouth, and drank with her eyes tightly closed.

Then Jin broke into a roar of laugher. Kaito muffled a chuckle. Genkai wearily sighed.

Akira's mouth was beginning to bulge—she was not drinking the concoction but keeping it stock in her mouth. Her cheeks were beginning to flush…and slowly started to turn a tinge closer to green. She was nauseated.

"Swallow the damn thing, dimwit," Genkai harshly ordered. "Do you stupidly think it _would possibly_ work that way?"

Akira seemed to hesitate at first but the stern look on Genkai's face must have convinced her. Though against her will—and probably against her impulse to cough out the mixture—she swallowed it hard, and then moaned quietly with her eyes still closed. She stood stagnant for a moment before her arms slumped down and she suddenly slouched down to the floor, her head ducked down.

Kaito's human energy stirred up in response to it.

"Hold still, Kaito," Kurama evenly cautioned to his friend, lifting his hand. "It would take a considerable amount of time for the potion to absorb into her body and changed her. Let's observe first."

He saw Kaito straightened and nodded in his peripheral sight.

A low grumble from Akira pulled his attention back to her. Then he saw her hands abruptly flew to her mouth with a soft sound. She was groaning. And when Akira turned her face to them, she was all green, nauseated to the edge. Before anyone could react, she staggered up to her feet and precipitately streaked to the nearest tree, coughing and vomiting with her back to them.

Jin burst out into a roar of laughter so as Kaito. There was a 'you deserve it' bitter muttered from Suzuka and a jaded sigh from Genkai while Yukina ran to Akira's side, maternally caressing her back, comforting her.

"Damn rancid potion," he heard her moaned and cussed under her breath.

"I'll throw that stupid repulsive potion as soon as—and I'll kill both of your stupid butts—laughing morons, after—"her words completely trailed off by a convulsive groan. And then off she darted back to the temple, her hands clamped over her mouth, followed by Yukina.

Kurama couldn't help not to sigh. This_ would be harder than he imagined._

* * *

"Suzuka, Eyeglasses boy and Kurama's workin' on it. Kurama estimated it will take time for th' potion t' change _int'_ smoke," the red-head elemental demon declared, his words pouring out quickly that it was hard to understand, and the Irish-like accent he has makes it worse too—an Irish demon, _weird_. "So need not t' worry, 'kira; yea' still have plenty of time t' recover."

His last statement would sound sweet if it really came out of real concern only it wasn't, it was taunting. He was mocking her, purely enjoying every single moment of her being violently sick from Blondie's potion—poison, _should_ be the right term though.

"Shut up, Jin," she growled through her teeth and then winced when a sudden pain twisted in her stomach, her hands instinctively fluttering to her mouth. Yukina who was beside her instinctively started rubbing her back again with her tender little hands.

Jin snickered.

If she's not just sick, she had already smacked Jin's head. He was annoying, the same as—_him!_ She was right. The stupid thing _wouldn't work_ but Mr. Know-It-All insisted it would. Damn him! Was he really helping out…? Caused it seems like he wanted to kill her first. _What's with the ludicrous idea of letting her drink some dratted brew made from some ethereal fruit handpicked from the realms of the Netherworld?_ Curse the Red-head!

She cringed again when another round of pain hit her stomach.

Jin laughed again.

"Yea' should better drink some human remedy, 'kira," he managed to get out between his snickers. "_Or better_, take something th't would wash the green out of yea'r face. Yea' can pass as a plant demon with th't—and no one's gonna suspect at all!" He howled with laughter, rolling over his stomach while suspended in the invisible air.

Akira rolled her eyes heavenward. Seriously, do all red-head existing in this universe completely annoying? Or just the ones who happens to be _ethereal_? She_ should_ try to visit the otherworldly authority some time and insist them to make a law sanctioning these irritating Red-Head demons to be killed. Haunt them and torture them. No doubt, _she would gladly volunteer for the job._

"Are you feeling fine now, Akira? I will tell Genkai and Kurama if not." the all-caring Yukina offered for the fifteenth time since she had first vomited in front of them—truly embarrassing…all thanks to Red-head.

Akira half-smiled and lightly shook her head, lying.

"Are you sure?" Yukina asked, unconvinced.

It must be obvious in her face that she was internally wishing a pit would open in the sand-colored ground and eat her alive. Well, she would _probably_ prefer that rather than to try another round of experiment again—like some stupid Guinea Pig. She's sure, it will not be long enough before Red-Head and his stupid scientist friends are done with their new scheme—and for her to try it. _What a terrible nightmare is this…!_

The potion didn't work—on her—as she assumed it would be. She had involuntarily vomited the concoction out of her body before it had infected her system and transformed her back to an air-spirit (although truthfully, she was seriously grateful she did.) Her stomach seemed to be convulsively allergic to it that even Genkai didn't have the heart to provoke her to try the confounded crap again. She thought they would give up with it and prayed they will. But of all the rotten luck—that Hades had brought forth upon her—Red-Head instantly thought of another approach.

It was something about some magical box called the _'Idun Box'_ or the Reverse Magic Box, if she recalls it properly. It was an item similar to the nasty potion only it contained smoke rather than a red revolting liquid designed to gag you up. The smoke, according to Red-Head, has the same effect as the potion caused it was made from it—only it will have a rapid effect from the latter caused naturally the smoke would be absorbed quickly by the body the same as air compared to liquid. Simple Science.

And of course, everyone agreed to his_ brilliant_ idea. _No one has the guts to go against the notion of the almighty Red-Head and his humongous, alien-sized brain._

Drat.

So off it goes—so as her bad luck continue—Suzuka started to worked on it after borrowing an ancient-oriental wooden box from Genkai with Kurama and Kaito.

Double drat.

"'kira," Jin began, interrupting her thoughts. Seriously, what's the use of nicknaming if you'll just exclude one letter from the original name? Would it be harder for him to call her Kira with an additional 'A' in the beginning? Or was it just a problem regarding the Irish accent? Sheesh…

"What…?" she grumbled, annoyed by the elastic taunting grin plastered across Jin's face.

"Why don't yea' try going airborne—with me? Go _whoosh way up, up to the sky!_ Maybe, you'll get sick as crazy that Kurama wouldn't insist anymore to—"

"What did you say Jin?" she jerked up, her tone an octave higher; interrupting Jin's swift words and startling Yukina. Fly—a sudden surge of enthusiasm ran through her veins at the thought of it.

"About being sick as crazy?"

"No, the other one…"

Jin stared at her blankly.

"_About going airborne_, Jin," she answered for herself, a little miffed that Jin wasn't really paying any damn attention to the things he's saying. "About flying!"

Jin's teasing face instantly disappeared. Cocking his head a bit, he gave her a weird look, "Yea' really hate Suzuka's items, don't yea'?"

"Who cares about his stupid items when you just mentioned flying?" she beamed, wide-eyed. Flying—just hearing it sounds cool. No, not cool. Much more than cool—awesome! She saw Jin fly earlier and it was already cool. What more if he soars up in the sky and race with the falcons and eagles up there? Or much better, fly around the world with no worries except for some storm and weather disturbances—might well include the world-wide satellite. NASA would probably be confounded if there was a strange signal in their radar. But either way, it still sounds awesome!

"Let's try it now, Jin," she insisted, taking a big stride toward the now-confused red-haired elemental demon. "Let's fly! I don't care how fast. Let's do it!"

"Back up a sec, 'kira," Jin started, backtracking. "I thought yea'r sick."

"Jin—Schmuck, I can handle it! I will not vomit on you, okay?" she said, waving her hand frivolously. "And if you're worried about my weight. Don't worry, I'm not that sturdy. I bet you can handle me, what's the use of being a demon? I'll be as light as a feather to you! So let's go! Go! Go! Go!!"

Jin deliberated; his deep blue eyes thoughtful.

"I—still don't know, 'kira—Kurama might—and I was really just joking 'bout it," Jin stammered, trying to find some excuse; clearly reluctant at the idea.

"Joke or not, who cares! It's my decision. Kurama has nothing to do with it. I'll kick him if he chides you, I owe him a good one," she interrupted. No one's gonna stop her. It's already a made-decision. "And besides, I want to go _whoosh_ to the sky! Maybe it'll help me recall some of my past memories. Air-spirit incarnate, remember?" she pointed at her chest with an already-triumphant-smile, "I used to soar endlessly through the skies, Jin. That's what air-spirits do."

Jin stared back at her, still deliberating.

"Come on, Jin!"

Jin gave up with a sigh, nodding half-heartedly with a martyr look on his face as he crouched into position.

Her grin widened as she excitedly approached Jin and eagerly climb at his back like a little kid up for a piggy-back ride. For a second, she was quite uncomfortable touching Jin's skin. Most of his skin was bare; only two strips of white clothes donned on his body stupidly looking like a thick X suspender against his light-brown skin. But more than that, he's skin was burning hot. Hotter than the normal human temperature—must be a demon thing.

"Yea're really sure 'bout 'tis?" Jin asked over his shoulder, still hesitant.

"Sheesh, Jin!" Akira huffily grumbled, clamping one of her arm around Jin's neck, playfully choking him, "Let's just fly! Enough with all the dumb questions, okay? I'm not going to say no, if that makes it clear." And with her other arm she gestured up to the sky, "Just go Wind Master, fly with the wind!"

"Yea're a bit strange even for a half-human, yea' know that?" Jin deeply sighed but regained his cheery self again. "But anyhoo—aye, pilot!" he cheerfully said while mocking a military salute.

Yukina who was standing in front of them and remained quiet thorough her _'flying' _conversation with Jin—probably still worried—finally chuckled.

"Hold on tight, pilot or yea' might fall. Get ready t' go _whoosh_ t' the sky and fly wit' th' wind!" Jin said to her with a smile in his voice—Akira followed, anyway, tightening her grip on him, the instant she felt Jin's powerful aura incite, the wind in harmony with it. Slowly then she felt Jin's body hoist off from the ground and with a strong gust of wind, launched himself aloft.

And off they were flying.

There was the strong wind that wasn't there before, blowing her skin against her skull and flinging her hair behind with enough force that it felt like someone was tugging on it. The wind was intensely whipping at her face, stinging her eyes that she could barely see anything; trying to fight Jin's rocketing force with the gravity. For a minute, it felt like she was sticking her head out the window of an airplane in flight or like riding a motorcycle drove by some manic driver on his way to hell (not that she experienced both or what, both are just one of her stupid unrealistic déjà vu.) The speed was truly exhilarating! Incredible! …The way how the wind blew her skin…the thrilling speed… the sound of the wild breeze…the feeling of freedom…

It was truly AWESOME!

"We're here," Jin suddenly interrupted her momentary blissful moment, slowing. The strong exhilarating wind began to gradually fade as they slowed off and turned into a soft mild breeze as Jin break off in a halt in mid-air, probably hundreds of feet away from the ground…She was tempted to look down just to see how high they were but remembering the roll of nausea that might attack back, she didn't care to bother.

"T'is seems a nice peak, 'kira. We stop here," Jin stated and instantly Akira felt her lips pushed out in a pout. She wanted to fly, dash to the sky only, to feel the strong wind and the exhilarating sensation running in her veins but Jin was pulling her out of her ephemeral seventh heaven—_it's not fair!_

"Look at that," Jin interrupted her chain of thoughts, pointing north.

Akira hesitated for a second. She wants to fly not to go sightseeing. But when Akira darted her eyes toward the precise direction Jin had said…she was aghast, realizing that Jin hadn't really pulled her out of her momentary seventh heaven but was letting her behold the real seventh-heaven that was lying in front of her.

It was not a cloudless sky like what it appears down there in the ground for in what seems to be an infinite endless white blue horizon there perched a number of super-gigantic cotton-like clouds over a magical perfect blue-ocean which sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in its smooth mirror-like surface. It was a beautiful…surreal…dreamlike…

"Oh…my…" she gasped as she darted her eyes around the airway milieu. Everything looks perfect up there from the enchanting boundless olive-green realm that reigned over the lower part of the magnum opus scenery offering an ideal finite terrain for the lazuli-tinted ocean, split at the upper realm administrated by the infinite white-blue sky of a fair sunny day edged by massive clouds in its perspective corners.

It was magical…like a place in a fairytale where in any minute you just expected a number of fairies to fly straight to you or an enchanting colorful zephyrs would just blew right through your face and dance around you.

If flying felt like this, if all the simple sceneries that looked archetypical down there in the ground will be as magical as an enchanting vista up here… If you can just soar endlessly through the skies and let the wind alone guide you to your path peacefully and this tranquil…how can the air-spirit inside her callously throw all of this? What's her reason behind such decision…? Well, obviously whatever the reason is, the stupid decision didn't warm the air-spirit to her.

One track of thought was in her head. It was the biggest mistake an entity could make—apparently the stupidest one too.

A sudden throb in her head abruptly overshadowed 'the-air-spirit-inside-me-sucks!' notions and made her flinched. Jin noticed.

"Yea' okay, 'kira?" the wind demon asked, concerned, "'re yea' sick?"

"No," she told him, firmly, afraid that Jin might consider the thought of bringing her down to the ground, completely bursting her momentary euphoric bubble. "It's just what you call Jetlag, a motion sickness, one of the drawbacks of being a half frail human. You're a very, very fast modern jet, Jin, you know that? I'm now considering the thought of _you_ being a mode of transportation. That would be cool, you know… I won't be late a single day in my school life anymore."

Jin laughed a throaty laugh, obviously amused of her eccentric idea/ or her friends called it wit. A lot of people do. Now she's aware demons do also.

She gaped back at the vast velvet ocean in front of her; inhaling the clean sweet scent of the sunny day breeze while appreciating the spectacular landscape. Imagining the things that would have happened if only…

"You know what, Jin?" she said after a minute, musing out her inner thoughts, "If I could just stay up here in the sky, forever, I _will_. I can live like this forever. It feels much easier here, flying, aloft, on the wing. Like no problem from down there could reach you up here. It makes you feel light, free from care…free from anything!"

"Free from any _damn_!" she exclaimed, suddenly throwing her arms out in the air with a brisk force that send her balance staggering, her body doubling over in thin air—their balance staggering.

"Wo…Woah!—" Jin stammered, trying to regain the balance back with an apprehensive feat; leaning his body forward to forestall her from the forthcoming hazard. In result, Akira's upper body plop against Jin's back with a certain force; her arms intuitively locking around the wind demon.

"What was th't?" Jin demanded, trifle furious, glowering at her over his shoulder. "Yea' don't do crazy things like th't a hundred of feet above th' ground."

Akira started to laugh.

"Th't wasn't funny, 'kira," Jin reprimanded. "Yea' could have plummeted down like a rocket crashing straight t' th' ground. Kurama and Genkai _will_ kill me."

"No, they won't," she disagreed, still chortling. "And besides, you wouldn't let that happen. You're a breathing predominant jet with air powers, Jin. You could save me. But truthfully I would love to _know_ how it will feels like jumping off from a remarkable height such as this one! Sky-diving…!"

Jin grunted, "Might as well bring yea' down before yea' do more of yea'r stunts here."

"No! Jin, no," she apprehensively cried out, squeezing her arms so tightly around Jin that it would choke a normal person. Good thing, he was a demon and wasn't sensitive to her sadistic feats. "I want to stay up here! Please, please, please…"

"Or better, be a nice friendly chum by flying away from here and help me escape the hazardous threats of Suzuka's enchanting items in store for me down there," she whispered conspiratorially.

Jin chuckled lightly. "Anything just t' get out of it…" he shook his head, smiling wryly.

"Anything," Akira smiled.


End file.
